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.

Momentum builds!

With 8 new Friends completing the course at ACEarts (see pic) last Monday, plus a total of 18 in two sessions at Wessex House this week, momentum is building and we now have 128 Dementia Friends in the Somerton Area. Well done everyone! Particular thanks to Shirley and Rowena for their efforts in organising and delivering the training.
New sessions are being added to the Events calendar, keep watching!

Matter of Identity - Exhibition at ACEarts

ACEarts has an exhibition starting on 22nd June in the Old Town Hall, where Pip Woolf explores, through mark-making and installation, the sense of personal identity in people with dementia.
Full details are on the poster/flyer here.
The exhibition is open 23 June – 21 July, Tuesday–Saturday 10am–5pm
Private view: Friday 22 June 6–8pm
Artist talk: Saturday 21 July 2–4pm
aceARTS Market Place, Somerton, Somerset TA11 7NB
01458 273008  aceartssomerset@icloud.com  www.acearts.co.uk

A previous exhibition here prompted the formation of SADAA.

SADAA passes 100!

Following the successful launch of our Safe Places scheme, the total number of signed-up Dementia Friends in Somerton and the surrounding area has now passed 100. We are well on our way to our 500 member target.

If you want to learn more about living with dementia and how we can become a more dementia friendly community, there are more training sessions planned. Look in the Diary on this web site. The next two take place at ACEarts, in the Old Town Hall, on June 25th at 10.30 and July 17th at 6pm.

SOMERTON AREA DEMENTIA ACTION ALLIANCE

LAUNCHES AT WESSEX HOUSE

SADAA Committee, friends and community contacts celebrate the launch. (Photo courtesy Len Copland)

The Somerton Area Dementia Action Alliance (SADAA) was formally launched at Wessex House last week.
There are already 100 Dementia Friends in Somerton, a figure which SADAA is hoping will rise to 500. During the launch event guests were able to find out more about SADAA.
The new 'Safe Places' scheme was introduced by Ivor Dixon, who explained that the scheme enables anyone living with dementia to feel safe in the town, knowing that there are places of refuge where they can go or be taken that will be sympathetic to their requirements. Boots the Chemist have already trained their staff to Dementia Friends standard, and Wessex House have committed to training all of their staff over the next few months.