Flower Festival at West Street Church

The Flower Festival at West Street Church from 6-8th July was very well supported by folks in the town and showcased the skills of various group as well as individuals. The theme was 'I AM...' and donations were raised in aid of CLIC.

Using the tablecloth donated by Althea as a background, Jo created a rendering of the familiar Forget-me-not logo as Somerton DAA's entry, and we took the opportunity of providing leaflets promoting our particular theme of 'I am a Dementia Friend' to encourage more people to join us in making Somerton and the surrounding area a more friendly place to live with dementia..

National landmark for Dementia Friends

Yes, you read that right - there are now 2.5 million Dementia Friends in England, Wales and Northern Ireland! Your commitment and passion has made this the UK's biggest ever movement to battle the stigma around dementia and make communities more dementia-friendly.​ This is your achievement so celebrate and shout about it!

135 of those friends are in Somerton, following a further successful training session at ACEarts on July 17th, when an additional 6 people were signed up.

More friends at Wessex House

Another 11 Dementia Friends completed the training at Wessex House last week, so our total now is around 130! Great effort by all who have encouraged participation and helped with organising and carrying out the training.
Wessex House is, of course, one of our 'Safe Places', offering a temporary sanctuary for anyone who may get disorientated or lost while in Somerton. The other is the Boots pharmacy in West Street. We're working on a protocol, to be published later, on just how to respond if you find someone who is apparently lost. This is in conjunction with Avon & Somerset Police, whose help we very gratefully acknowledge, as well as that of the two Safe Places.