Northampton gears up for its second ‘Memory Day’

County residents can get up to date on projects aimed at supporting people with dementia and attend free, interactive workshops as Northampton gears up for its second ‘Memory Day’ next week.

The event will be held in the Grosvenor Shopping Centre on the 21 September, starting at 9am and is open to all including local businesses, members of the public and families who are already living with the condition.

There will be a number of information stands from local businesses and charities offering advice and support and we are running a number of interactive sessions. These can be booked online and include:

• Training to be a dementia friend
• Chair and standing exercises
• Wellbeing assessments
• Talks by young people who have dementia and their carers
• An appointment with an Admiral Nurse (Family Support)

With an estimated 7,700 people currently living with dementia in Northamptonshire and that number projected to increase by 45% by 2030, the disease will go on to touch many more lives.

The University of Northampton is leading on projects to place the county at the forefront of dementia preparation. These include a ‘Future Directions in Dementia Care Conference & Exhibition’ in November and the launch of post-diagnostic support centre in early 2018 to help people diagnosed with dementia in the months immediately after their diagnosis.

Professor Jacqui Parkes is Professor in Applied Mental Health at the University of Northampton and our dementia projects lead said: “Last year’s Memory Day was a great success and we thoroughly enjoyed meeting local people who came to either have an inquisitive look around or take part in one of the free, friendly and fun sessions we ran to understand more about dementia.

“With increasing numbers of people living and dealing with dementia and the government creating key policy to tackle this, it’s important that we are already ahead of the curve in Northampton to help us prepare. For anyone wanting to get in the know, come along on the day to find out more.”

The event will start at 9am on 21 September downstairs in the open space near the lifts at the Grosvenor Shopping Centre.

Book onto any of the above courses and for more information about the Memory Day.

Notes to editors

A full dementia strategy for the town will be launched on 14th November during our ‘Future Directions in Dementia Care Conference & Exhibition’, in which experts from around the world will update on key research projects into the condition and leading dementia business partner will present on advances to aid the lives of people with dementia.