TODAY we are proudly launching our Dementia Friendly Penarth campaign in partnership with the Penarth Dementia Friendly Steering Group.

The campaign aims to make every shop, cafe, restaurant, business and every other venue ‘dementia friendly’ over the coming months.

The Penarth Dementia Friendly Steering Group has launched the campaign and the Penarth Times are backing the plans.

We will be providing coverage throughout the campaign and will become a dementia friendly newspaper in the coming weeks.

The steering group is made up of several members of various organisations, including the Alzheimer’s Society, who want to make people aware of how small changes we can all can make in the community can help those who have the disease, as well as their families and carers.

The group has teamed up with the Penarth Times to help make Penarth a dementia friendly town, launching the campaign in time for Dementia Action Week.

Philip Batchelor started up the group in September 2017 and has been working across various areas in the Vale of Glamorgan

“We are just really excited about this and we’ve been visiting a lot of shops in Penarth in the past couple of weeks to talk about what we’re doing,” said Mr Batchelor.

“Local businesses and members of the community can get involved to make the town a better place for people and their carers.

“We know that there are many elderly people here and many of those who suffer from dementia could be feeling socially isolated. Knowing that there’s a friendly face that they can turn to will really give them a boost and add to their quality of life.”

Penarth Times editor Nicole Garnon said: “We are delighted to be a part of the Dementia Friendly Penarth campaign.

“Dementia is something that affects so many people across the community and we can all play a part in making our towns a better place to live for those with the disease, for their carers and for their families.

“We look forward to carrying coverage from the campaign in the coming weeks and would love to hear from anyone interested in getting involved.”

As the local campaign coincides with Dementia Action Week, there will be sessions held at Penarth Library across next week which will help people to become a Dementia Friend.

A Dementia Friend is someone who learns more about Alzheimer’s disease and then turns that knowledge into a helpful action; such as helping those with the disease or discussing it with friends and family.

Catherine Owen, the librarian at Penarth Library, said the library wanted to back the campaign as they have many elderly people come in to use their facilities each day.

She said: “There have been dementia friendly sessions that started in Barry and the Vale and the library was involved there, so when it moved here they suggested we get involved as well.

“Lots of our users are older and its very useful for us to be able to support people and all our staff have been trained as dementia friends.

“We have a team club and we are hoping to have training for them soon as well. I think this will help people by making them more aware of dementia and it will be easier for people with it to access services.”

Here are the upcoming sessions that will take place at Penarth Library next week:

Monday, May 21 at 12pm.

Wednesday, May 23 at 1pm.

Thursday, May 24 at 5.30pm

Each session will last 45 minutes and the attendees will become Dementia Friends.

l If you would like to get involved in our campaign, please contact the newsdesk on 01633 777011 or send an email to penarthtimes@penarthtimes.co.uk