A GROUP of volunteers, all of whom are aspiring to be champions, congregated at The Witham for a training session.
Barnard Castle Dementia Friends Community Group (BCDFCG) in conjunction with the Alzheimer’s Society, arranged for about 20 people representing various organisations from in and around Barnard Castle to train as dementia friends ‘champions’.
The regional dementia friends officer for the Alzheimer’s Society in the north east and Cumbria, Ed Chivers , said: “I usually deliver training in more urban settings. It is quite something to see a rural session so well attended.”
Chairman of BCDFCG Ian Kirkbride said: “Anyone who successfully completes the dementia friends champions course can provide training to people to enable them to become Dementia Friends.”
He added: ” We are now in the position to offer organisations in and around the dale free training for their staff and volunteers to allow them to become dementia friends. The dementia friends training session lasts around 45 minutes.”
Trained dementia champions, all of whom are volunteers, encourage other members of society to make a positive difference to people living with dementia in their community.
They do this by giving them information about the personal impact of dementia, and what they can do to help.
During the course of the day, as well as learning about presentation skills, the group learnt that dementia is not part of the natural ageing of the body; it is a disease of the brain.
The disease is progressive and usually, but not always, starts with short term memory loss.
Dementia also has the ability to effect perception but suffers can still communicate properly.
Participants also learnt that although Alzheimer’s is probably the best-known form of dementia, there are at least 100 different types.
Mr Kirkbride said: “Today was a big success, we have been planning to be at this point for the last 18 month. This training puts us in a strong position to be able to offer the training and things will only get better as word gets around.”
Currently there are about 850,000 suffers in the UK, with one in 14 of the population over the age of 65 diagnosed with the disease.
Alzheimer’s Society says it is not purely an old persons disease with 42,000 people under 65 currently diagnosed as suffers.
Mr Kirkbride said he very grateful to The Witham for providing the training venue free of charge.
Centre manager Susan Coffer said: ” The Witham are very glad to host the event.”
