Projects

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Dementia Friendly Mapesbury

Mapesbury is an area of Brent with two active residents associations who recognised the need and wanted to support people living with dementia in their neighbourhoods. An application for just under £10,000 to Big Lottery Awards4All fund was successful and kick-started a social wellbeing programme for people living with dementia and their family carers. There was a particular focus on under- represented local communities. Volunteers were trained as “champions” to support those living with dementia and their families, and bridge the gap between them and statutory / community services. Meetings were held with cultural and religious leaders who identified the need to raise awareness of dementia in ways that were sensitive to particular faiths and cultures. Cultural and faith leaders facilitated access to communities who might have been unwilling to discuss the sensitive issue of dementia. They began a dialogue about dementia and with their encouragement culturally and religiously sensitive dementia awareness training was delivered to diverse audiences in churches, mosques and temples. CADBrent is offering a small funding scheme to encourage BME and faith groups to develop dementia services and a number of discussions are taking place to drive this forward. A Safe Home programme to help people who are confused or lost to get home safely has been more complicated than first considered. The complexity of safeguarding and reliance on volunteers with very busy lives has left it on hold but not abandoned.

The De-Caf at Ashford Place is in Mapesbury ward and offers a weekly drop in for people with dementia and their family carers. The activities are shaped by people using the service and includes creative crafts, oral history, dancing and music. People living with dementia and their carers enjoy outings and participate in activities such as tours of Wembley Stadium and music events at the Brent Civic Centre. People with dementia who attend De-Caf say the weekly activities have reduced anxiety about their condition and compensate in some measure for the lack of statutory services.
The Shed Clochar Court
The Shed, a joint project with Innisfree Housing Association was opened by the Ambassador of Ireland in July 2017. It is a place to protect men from social isolation, cope with retirement, redundancy and bereavement and improve health and wellbeing. It provides a safe, supportive and friendly setting where (predominantly) men can socialise, learn new skills or hone existing skills by working alongside each other on community projects or raising funds for the Shed. It offers contact with like-minded men and access to a workshop which contains tools, work benches and materials to construct, repair or revitalise a variety of projects. The shed, donated by a large London Irish waste management service was refurbished, fitted and kitted out by donations in cash and kind from several construction companies, as well as funding from the Irish Government’s Emigrant Support Programme. This is an example of community and business working together to improve the lives of people at risk of or living with dementia.
Whole Street of Support
The Whole Street of Support (WSoS), is an initiative which focused on Mapesbury and South Kilburn, two areas of Brent where CADBrent had local knowledge and connections. The intention was to explore how people in the community could contribute to making the place dementia friendly. The aim was an environment where people with dementia could feel safe, confident and enabled to maintain their independence and even maximize their existing abilities.

The WSoS involved a multidisciplinary team, comprising service providers, residents and council members inspired by a design facilitator from Innovation Unit. The designer helped the team explore and prototype different ideas, engaging with community organisations, local businesses and especially people living with dementia. They tested different ways of engaging potential activists who might drive initiatives forward across the community. Scouts, hairdressers, faith groups and housing associations showed particular interest and were willing to learn how to make a difference in their different capacities within the area.

Awareness of dementia and what dementia friendly means has increased locally. Organisations and local businesses are working in partnership towards a common goal. There is much more to be done but the foundations have been set to empower residents and people living with dementia to bring about positive change. In particular WSoS is contributing what has been learned to influencing the design of services and space in the regeneration that is taking place in the area of South Kilburn.