First York solicitors to become Dementia Champions

Two solicitors at Harrowells have become the first in the city to join an initiative to make York a Dementia Friendly Community.

Picture: Dawn Moore (2nd L) and Sally Inston (2nd R) with BHS staff in York

Sally Inston and Dawn Moore have trained to become Alzheimer’s Society Dementia Champions so they can provide free information sessions to spread awareness of the condition and its impact on individuals and their families.

The two specialise in legal services to the elderly, including wills, powers of attorney, Court of Protection and care fees advice, and regularly come into contact with people living with dementia, their carers and families.

They have started their one-hour information sessions, given during working hours, to create more Dementia Friends in York and have already delivered awareness sessions to staff at BHS and City of York Council with more workshops planned into 2015.

Their information sessions encourage discussion about attendees’ perception of dementia and educate them through various activities. At the end of each session, delegates are asked to consider how they can commit to being a Dementia Friend.

Information sessions are also being delivered throughout Harrowells Solicitors six offices where every member of staff will be a Dementia Friend by the end of the year. The firm has produced a Dementia Friendly action plan and set up a Dementia Working Group to consider how it can adapt its services for people living with dementia.

Dementia Friends is part of the Alzheimer’s Society’s work to create more dementia-friendly communities across the UK, where around 850,000 people live with the condition, and it hopes to have trained a million Dementia Friends by 2015.                                               

Latest figures show that more than 11,000 people in York and North Yorkshire have dementia and this is expected to rise to 16,000 in the next decade.

Sally Inston says: “We have joined this initiative because our legal specialisation means it is important that we have a clear framework for supporting those living with dementia and that this should include their experience of visiting a solicitor.

“We provide information sessions to employees within workplaces and local community organisations and are very keen to hear from other organisations, whether businesses, public sector or voluntary, which want to join the Dementia Friends initiative.”

Dawn Moore adds: “We both feel Dementia Friends is a great idea and were keen to become Dementia Champions and help educate people about the condition on a personal and professional level. The sessions are a way of giving something useful back to the York community.

“We strongly believe that creating dementia friendly communities will encourage everyone to work together to ensure that people living with dementia feel included and cared for and able to live the best possible lives.”

Other initiatives in York include  the Yorkshire & Humber Dementia Action Alliance run by the Alzheimer’s Society.  Sally Inston and Dawn Moore also took part in Alzheimer’s Society’s York Memory Walk in September as marshalls and many Harrowells LLP staff took part.