dementia club uk
Dementia Club UK is a well-established UK charity, working hand in hand with the
local community since 2013 to support people living with dementia and their
carers and works in partnership with Barnet Carers and Barnet Council.
Dementia has become a growing concern and is unfortunately the leading number
one killer. The main aim of a dementia club is to provide much needed respite to
carers and those living with these conditions; to give our members the chance to
meet socially in a relaxed atmosphere over a cup of tea and coffee and cakes and
make new friends; take part in gentle exercise and fun activities.
Dementia Club UK welcomes those living with Alzheimer's and other forms of
dementia and also provides advice and information to their carers and families
and also welcomes those who have lost someone with dementia and are now lonely.
Our founder and Chairman of Dementia Club UK and also former Mayor of the
London Borough of Barnet and local councillor, Lisa Rutter, wrote a paper called
‘The Dementia Club UK Model’ which outlines the core principles that have come
together to form our Dementia Clubs. The charity commissioned an independent
research study in May 2015, conducted by Middlesex University London, which
“showed (demonstrated) that the dementia club as having a positive impact on
those living with or caring for a person with dementia, based on the techniques
and the model used in its cafes.”
The dementia club sessions run for 2 hours in the afternoons and provide various
activities from quizzes, bingo, singing, poetry reading, arts and crafts and
indoor games liking putting golf or table tennis. We then have about 30 minutes
of fun exercise to music including yoga and in the final part of the session we
have live music entertainment performed by various professional singers
including Opera singers and Elvis and Abba impersonators. We often invite
professional speakers to attend to provide information and advice on current
topics related to dementia.
Our members attend our dementia clubs with their families which is something we
like to encourage as it creates a friendly and welcoming atmosphere. Our members
come from many faith communities and backgrounds which makes for exciting times
when we celebrate events throughout the year.
Dementia Club UK now runs 6 dementia clubs across the Borough of Barnet and also
continues to run the popular online Zoom carers group meeting every week on
Tuesday evening for carers. We often have guest speakers, typically from either
a medical or political background, discussing relevant topics and allowing for a
question-and-answer session too. We also use this session to provide training
sessions in areas of health, wellbeing and mindfulness.
Dementia Club UK has recently been recognised by the Barnet Group and was
awarded Charity of the Year 2020. We have also featured as a WHICH Support
Group. A radio and video documentary was produced by the BBC to help showcase
the charity and all it does for the community, both of which aired on national
radio and television.
Most recently in November 2022, we are very proud to have won the tender from
the London Borough of Barnet to provide training online around Understanding
Dementia. The aim is to help Barnet Council as they work towards their target of
becoming a Dementia Friendly Borough. We are now delivering online training to
individuals and organisations, businesses, faith communities etc with the aim of
creating more dementia champions and also to help organisations to become
dementia friendly. Lisa has written the one-hour training course which is CPD
Certified. The course is provided online using Microsoft Teams in the mornings
and ZOOM in the evenings to give people a choice. Lisa is happy however to
organise bespoke training dates if any of the dates through Eventbrite are not
convenient.
We aim to continue raising awareness to reach as many people as possible in all
communities, to ensure people living with dementia feel safe, included and
involved while retaining control over their every day life and having the scope
of choice they need to live well.
