Birmingham residents invited to become Dementia Friends Champions

Volunteers required.

People in are being given the opportunity to make a difference to the lives of local people with dementia by becoming Dementia Friends Champions. A touring training session is coming to Birmingham on Saturday 23rd November.

The day-long session will take place at the Centre for Voluntary Action (B5 6DR) from  10am, and is part of Alzheimer’s Society Dementia Friends programme, an initiative launched in February to help members of the public understand what it might be like to live with dementia and turn that understanding into action.

There are more than 2,000 Dementia Friend Champions, who are trained volunteers who encourage their family, friends and local community to learn a little bit more about dementia, and inspire them to help people with dementia live well. After the Birmingham course, the volunteers will deliver Dementia Friends sessions across the local area in the coming months.

Alzheimer’s Society is aiming to have one million Dementia Friends by 2015, to help make England more dementia friendly and improve the lives of the 670,000 people currently living with the condition – including 10,800 people in Birmingham

Ann-Marie Snelson, Dementia Friends Regional Support Officer at Alzheimer’s Society said: “Dementia Friends Champions will attend a training course, receive ongoing support and be part of a growing network of people creating dementia friendly communities together in Birmingham and beyond. It’s all about giving more people an understanding of dementia and the small things that could make a difference to people living in their community. The forget-me-not is the symbol for our initiative. It is a clear message that we will not let people living with dementia struggle on alone. One million Dementia Friends will mean that they don’t have to.”

You can sign up for the local Dementia Friends Champions Training session by visiting http://www.dementiafriends.org.uk/session/trainingcourses