Our Sarah backs Dementia Friendly Awards

Local personality Sarah Travers is backing in the awards. She has personal experience of the disease, that affects around 20,000 people in the Province.

Sarah’s father, Ian Travers passed away in October 2013 at the age of 67 from Lewy Body Dementia.

She tells: “I wish Dementia Friends awareness workshops had been available when my father had dementia, it would have helped me so much to understand what the world was like for him and what was happening.”

This will see exciting new additions for 2016 including the ‘Inspiring Individual’ award, designed to shine a light on an individual who has made an exceptional difference to the lives of people with dementia, and ‘Young Person’s Contribution’, to mark the important role younger generations have to play in supporting the better understanding and inclusion of people with dementia in their local communities via Alzheimer’s Society’s Dementia Friendly Communities initiative.

Sarah adds: “‘My involvement with the awards last year highlighted to me how Dementia Friends awareness workshops are not just for care workers, it’s for everyone. When I did a Dementia Friends awareness workshop this year it highlighted to me how unfriendly a place the world is for people with dementia. These awards celebrate the people making the world friendlier, whether they are a hairdresser, a police officer or a part of a team of people working with dementia.

Nominations are open to all groups, individuals, organisations and partnerships that champion the rights of people affected by dementia. For more info visit www.alzheimers.org.uk/dementiafriendlyawards.