Dementia Friendly Awards highlight role of faith

We were delighted that David Richardson, dementia coordinator for Churches Together in Cumbria, was recognised at the Alzheimer’s Society Dementia Friendly Awards on 29 November.

David was one of three finalists for the most prestigious award: Outstanding Contribution 2017. Although he didn’t come home with the trophy, it was fantastic to see the profile given to his work to make every church in Cumbria dementia friendly by 2020. Over 100 ‘Dementia Enablers’ have been trained in 85 locations across the region, and their job is to take the lead in making dementia everyone’s business within their church community.

This is a great example of how faith communities can help to make life better for people with dementia and their carers. Rodie Garland, FaithAction’s Policy Adviser, was at the awards ceremony and took the opportunity to tell host Angela Rippon about how FaithAction wants to help other faiths take similar action.

This year we are working with our Health and Wellbeing Alliance partners, Race Equality Foundation and Friends, Families and Travellers, on a project to raise awareness about dementia among Black, Asian and minority ethnic groups – which of course include many faith communities. Find out more at our event in Leeds on 5 December.

Read more about faith and dementia here