Plymouth shortlisted for Dementia Friendly Awards
Plymouth has been shortlisted for a prestigious national Dementia Friendly Award.
For the past few years, Plymouth City Council and the Plymouth Dementia Action Alliance (PDAA) have been committed to making Plymouth a Dementia Friendly city.
The National Dementia Friendly Awards 2015 has shortlisted Plymouth under the “Best Dementia Friendly Community Initiative” category.
Mr Ian Sherriff, chairman of the PDAA said, “Being shortlisted as a finalist for this award is in recognition for all the hard work, energy and passion that the PDAA membership and PCC has put in over the past 4 years. Our work has also been recognised by teams of public sector workers and academics from Japan, Australia and latterly, Holland.”
Councillor Ian Tuffin, Cabinet Member for Health and Adult Social Care for Plymouth City Council, said: “As a council we are committed to working with our partners to help Plymouth to become a more Dementia Friendly city.
“We are absolutely delighted that Plymouth has been shortlisted for this award – this is recognition for every organisation in the city that has done their bit and agreed to become more Dementia Friendly. This supports our aim of being a co-operative city where everyone does their bit.”
The PDAA has an ever-growing membership of organisations from a wide variety of sectors across the city, such as: healthcare, emergency services, transport, education, defence, legal services, charities, faith groups etc. In the last few months, it has welcomed new members from the retail, finance, health and leisure sectors.
Following a recent audit of PCC car parks, Plymouth is also on its’ way to having the first dementia friendly car parks across the city centre.
At present, there are over 3,000 people with a diagnosis of dementia, living in Plymouth and this figure is predicted to rise to approximately 3,667 by 2020. So, it is vital to keep the momentum going and remember that, as Mr Ian Sherriff says: “There is still lots more work to do so that ALL people with dementia and their carers in Plymouth can say ‘I am fully accepted and feel part of Plymouth.”
Dr Shelagh McCormick, a GP in Plymouth and clinical lead for mental health in the Western locality of NHS Northern, Eastern and Western Devon Clinical Commissioning Group (NHS NEW Devon CCG), said: “Being diagnosed with dementia can be a very worrying and upsetting time and we know how difficult living with dementia can be for people and their families.
“That’s why it is really important that people get the right support to deal with their diagnosis and to help them live with dementia.
“NHS NEW Devon CCG has a joint strategy together with Plymouth City Council, Devon County Council, Torbay Council and NHS South Devon and Torbay CCG to enable people to live well with dementia.
“We are delighted that health services in Plymouth, working in partnership with Plymouth City Council and other organisations, have now been recognised for the work they’ve done to make Plymouth a friendly place for people with dementia."
Plymouth City Council has a Dementia Friendly Toolkit to provide organisations with guidance and information on how to become more Dementia Friendly. This can be downloaded from the Council website at: www.plymouth.gov.uk/dementia
If you would like to find out more about the Dementia Friendly work in Plymouth and how your organisation can get involved, contact the Dementia Friendly City Co-ordinator, Claire Puckey, on 01752 398922 or email claire.puckey@plymouth.gov.uk
You can also sign up to be a Dementia Friend. The Alzheimer’s Society aims to create 4 million dementia friends by 2020. For more information visit: www.dementiafriends.org.uk
