- Tamworth Borough Council is lighting the castle world Alzheimer’s Day
- Tamworth Memory Café and Community Together CIC to mark the occasion on with activities
- Tamworth is a dementia friendly community
On Saturday 21 September, Tamworth Borough Council is lighting Tamworth Castle purple to mark World Alzheimer’s Day.
On the same day, the Community Together CIC are having a ‘wear it purple day’ in the Helping Hands Café and offering free refreshments to anyone coming in wearing purple.
The café is also holding a bake sale to raise money for the Alzheimer’s Society.
On Tuesday 17 September, the Tamworth Memory Café at Sacred Heart will make reference to and mark the day, the normal day for the café to run.
This year across the country many are coming together to promote a brain-healthy lifestyle: adopting a healthy lifestyle can reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. The aim this year is to encourage others to follow a balanced diet, exercise regularly, maintain social connections, and engage in lifelong learning to promote cognitive health.
Over 50 people regularly attend the Tamworth Memory Café every Tuesday at 10.30am - 12.30pm. Join the café on September 17 for activities such as:
- Painting stones with the Alzheimer's logo on it.
- Tasting healthy food options.
- Love to Move, seated exercise licensed by British Gymnastics association and created by neurologists providing bilateral brain training.
- Quizzes, word search or crosswords.
Councillor Lewis Smith, portfolio holder for people services, engagement and leisure for Tamworth Borough Council, said: “1 in 14 people over the age of 65 suffer from Alzheimer’s. We know and understand the impact Alzheimer's and dementia can have on everyone it affects. As a dementia friendly town, it’s important we continue to support and raise awareness about this disease/illness which impacts so many people.
“There is a lot of local support for those with dementia and their families. By marking World Alzheimer’s Day, we are helping raise awareness of this condition and the support available in Tamworth.
“We encourage anyone with Alzheimer’s or their families to come along to the memory café on Tuesday 17 September and the Helping Hands Café on Saturday 21 September. Please reach out for support.”
Tamworth was granted Dementia Friendly community status in 2018, for action in helping to improve the lives of local people living with dementia.
Since then, a lot of work has taken place in Tamworth to create a place in which people living with dementia, including carers, feel understood and supported, with access to the services they need. Visit https://www.tamworth.gov.uk/community/dementia-support for more information on Tamworth’s dementia support services.
This includes building an army of Dementia Friends - people who have undergone a short awareness session, to give them a basic understanding of dementia and some of the issues it can create for people living with it. According to latest figures, Tamworth has 5,755 Dementia Friends, and more than 850 Digital Friends.
Becoming a Dementia Friend can be done online or in person and takes less than an hour. Visit www.dementiafriends.org.uk or contact Tamworth Borough Council’s lead officer for Dementia Friendly Communities, Karen Clancy, on 01827 709569.