Burley in Wharfedale Dementia Action Group meeting
15 September 2016 - Minutes
1. Present:Quentin Fowler; Eileen Fowler; Susan Collins; Dale Smith; Judith Sayer; Wendy Carpenter; Niccola Swan
with Ann Greenhough of Walkers are Welcome as a guest
Apologies: Sylvia Bergin, Van & Ken McKenzie, Lucy Maddison, Sue Jopling, Penny & Stan Richards, Lynne Faulkes, Becky Berry, Jackie Whiteley
2. Matters arising from meeting on 21st July 2016
- The new family worker employed by the Methodist Church has started in their job and is keen to get involved in this group. Action: Invite her to a future meeting when she has settled in
- It was suggested that we might organise a sponsored memory walk (with Alzheimers Society) as part of next year’s Burley Summer Festival. Action: We will need to find a leader and someone to take the lead on this.
3. Report back from recent events
- 28th July Dementia Workshop at BRI Susan and Quentin had attended this and were very impressed with Danielle Woods the lead nurse for Dementia, Stroke and Delirium at BRI who presented in conjunction with Carers Resource. Susan fed back to the group. Topics covered had included: Death Café; delirium; relationships and behaviours; communication including Talking Point (Alzheimers Society online chat forum); Relate and their advice on dementia; Tom Kitwood’s work on person centred care including his book ‘Dementia Reconsidered’; Bradford’s Forget-me-not tool; community dentist in Shipley and Keighley; John’s Campaign (right for carer to be allowed to stay in hospital; BRI, Airedale and Leeds have signed up). A powerpoint presentation is available and will be sent out with these minutes. Ask Susan if more detail would be helpful.Two clips from Youtube were recommended:
Chris’s Story (Panorama) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zec-5XgC88Q
Naomi Fiel and Gladys Wilson - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrZXz10FcVM
It was suggested that we could have a resources page on the new website. Action: Niccola to follow up and incorporate Quentin’s earlier work
- 13th August - coffee morning This was very successful with a great many people attending, helped by Rachael Robinson’s publicity. Thanks are due to many but Susan in particular. £700 was raised. It was suggested another be arranged for 2017.
Subsequent to the meeting:
Saturday 30th September has been booked. Please save the date.
- 21st August - stall in park This was part of the Burley Summer Festival and had been a pleasant occasion with many children enjoying the mask making. Thank you to Lucy for the provision of the stand and the creative materials. It may not have had a great impact but did raise a further £15. For next year, it was thought that maybe a small exhibition could be hosted around a walk.
4. Forthcoming Events
- 17th September - Community Event, Queens Hall It is hoped that this will be a good opportunity to promote the group with a stand and leaflets. People have kindly agreed to man the stall and Susan has ensure that the display stands are available with appropriate materials.
- 23rd October - Learn more about dementia This is our next major event on a Sunday afternoon event (2-4 in the Parish Centre) and we are fortunate to have secured two excellent speakers: Dr Elizabeth Anderson, director of The Memory Tree, and Julie Rainer, from Carers Resource. Tea and cake will be available. This will need a lot of promotion to make it worthwhile for our speakers giving up a Sunday afternoon. Only one place has been confirmed so far. Susan has kindly agreed that her phone number can be the one given out for people to reserve a place. There will be a collecting bucket for donations. Action: all to work on promotion to make sure the posters and fliers are distributed everywhere and the village website and social media are fully used. Action: cake baking!
Subsequent to the meeting:
Susan has organised lots of publicity but we all need to promote this event. Quentin is going to organise a table with some memory aids and gadgets. Meet on the day at 1.30pm to help set up. More bakers needed. Poster attached with these minutes.
- 9th October – Leeds Area Quaker Meeting Quentin will be running an awareness session here
- BaDCoT awareness session The session planned for the 27th July was deferred with no new date as yet but we are still very keen to talk to the retailers and others business of Burley
5. Implementation of Action Plan
- Bus timetables – no progress; Action: Niccola to report back at next meeting
- Contacting schools and youth groups; Action: Sylvia to report back at next meeting
- Website: Niccola thanked Malcolm Fisher for his help in creating a new website as a sub-set of the village website. The draft can be viewed here: http://burleydementiafriends.weebly.com and Action: all are invited to give feedback and offer ideas for new content. It will go live in the next couple of weeks but needs more photos as some of the banner pictures are not working well at present on different devices. A new section is to be created which can incorporate information on local and national resources, including the details which Quentin has compiled.
- Grant application: Niccola has drafted the first pass of an application to the Parish Council but this can be kept on hold for the moment, given the success of recent fundraising.
- Draft constitution: The draft was reviewed and it was agreed that it was appropriate but it might also be interesting to see the consitituion of the Keighley and Ilkley groups. Action: Susan to see if we can get copies. Action: Niccola to adapt the draft and bring to the next meeting as a formal proposal for approval.
- Bank account: It was agreed we needed a bank account. Action: Niccola to establish which banks in Ilkley are demential friendly and then to acquire the appropriate papers.
- Treasurer appointment: Niccola was nominated and this was agreed unanimously and with thanks.
- Key numbers: this is to be a one-sided one page laminated document of essential contact numbers. A draft was shared by Niccola but this needs further work to check and update; Action: Niccola and any other volunteers to continue the work
- Memory Tree initiative: This has the potential to be the most important thing we deliver next year if we agree that it is our preferred way forward. Susan led a discussion, talking about the groups she has attended and explaining how they work. There are four in the area. For the first half hour everyone is together with informal activities and cake. Then the two groups – people with dementia and carers – separate and undertake different activities for an hour. For the first group, the leader might choose a topic such as school days; cinema; food; holidays; seasons and so on. The carers group, in a different room, have a volunteer chair person facilitating a peer support group. A typical session lasts for about 1 ½ / 2 hours and a voluntary contribution of perhaps £2.50 is made.
It was felt that using the skills of a paid worker (for the people with dementia group) would be the ideal way to proceed (at least for the first few months) and there is an excellent existing helper, Bob, who might be able to do sessions in Burley on a Thursday at a cost of £12.50 an hour plus travel time and petrol expenses. Elizabeth Anderson would be available to give support. There would need to be a serious commitment from volunteers who would need training, and the carers facilitation is also demanding. It was estimated that the cost would be around £50 a session but money is not the barrier here. The Parish Centre might be available on Thursday afternoons for £10-£20.
It was agreed that this would be of very real interest and that we should start with just one group a month, starting in perhaps February or March 2017, with ideally five or six couples. A workshop with Elizabeth was suggested. It was also suggested that there might be an opportunity in due course to work with the Menston dementia group. Members of our group need to be clear on what they can commit and how certain we are that we can proceed with this. Action: this needs to be the main item for the agenda for the next meeting.
6. Walkers are Welcome (WaW)Ann Greenhough talked about the WaW initiative and how this has developed in Burley. She also mentioned the health walk which happens each Tuesday morning and which could perhaps be a later stage for people to move onto. Insurance and expertise are now in place to offer accompanied tailored walks for people with dementia with or without their carer. These could be singly or in small groups. Three volunteers are willing to help now and there may well be others. It was suggested that this be offered informally now (including via Cuppa, Cake and Company) and tried out in a small way to very small numbers of people. The offer of help in this way was very much welcomed.
7. Other business
The following items had to be deferred as time ran out. They will be rescheduled to a future meeting:
8. Next Meetings
- Thursday 20th October - 2.00pm at the Parish Centre
- Thursday 17th November
15 September 2016 - Minutes
1. Present:Quentin Fowler; Eileen Fowler; Susan Collins; Dale Smith; Judith Sayer; Wendy Carpenter; Niccola Swan
with Ann Greenhough of Walkers are Welcome as a guest
Apologies: Sylvia Bergin, Van & Ken McKenzie, Lucy Maddison, Sue Jopling, Penny & Stan Richards, Lynne Faulkes, Becky Berry, Jackie Whiteley
2. Matters arising from meeting on 21st July 2016
- The new family worker employed by the Methodist Church has started in their job and is keen to get involved in this group. Action: Invite her to a future meeting when she has settled in
- It was suggested that we might organise a sponsored memory walk (with Alzheimers Society) as part of next year’s Burley Summer Festival. Action: We will need to find a leader and someone to take the lead on this.
3. Report back from recent events
- 28th July Dementia Workshop at BRI Susan and Quentin had attended this and were very impressed with Danielle Woods the lead nurse for Dementia, Stroke and Delirium at BRI who presented in conjunction with Carers Resource. Susan fed back to the group. Topics covered had included: Death Café; delirium; relationships and behaviours; communication including Talking Point (Alzheimers Society online chat forum); Relate and their advice on dementia; Tom Kitwood’s work on person centred care including his book ‘Dementia Reconsidered’; Bradford’s Forget-me-not tool; community dentist in Shipley and Keighley; John’s Campaign (right for carer to be allowed to stay in hospital; BRI, Airedale and Leeds have signed up). A powerpoint presentation is available and will be sent out with these minutes. Ask Susan if more detail would be helpful.Two clips from Youtube were recommended:
Chris’s Story (Panorama) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zec-5XgC88Q
Naomi Fiel and Gladys Wilson - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrZXz10FcVM
It was suggested that we could have a resources page on the new website. Action: Niccola to follow up and incorporate Quentin’s earlier work
- 13th August - coffee morning This was very successful with a great many people attending, helped by Rachael Robinson’s publicity. Thanks are due to many but Susan in particular. £700 was raised. It was suggested another be arranged for 2017.
Subsequent to the meeting:
Saturday 30th September has been booked. Please save the date.
- 21st August - stall in park This was part of the Burley Summer Festival and had been a pleasant occasion with many children enjoying the mask making. Thank you to Lucy for the provision of the stand and the creative materials. It may not have had a great impact but did raise a further £15. For next year, it was thought that maybe a small exhibition could be hosted around a walk.
4. Forthcoming Events
- 17th September - Community Event, Queens Hall It is hoped that this will be a good opportunity to promote the group with a stand and leaflets. People have kindly agreed to man the stall and Susan has ensure that the display stands are available with appropriate materials.
- 23rd October - Learn more about dementia This is our next major event on a Sunday afternoon event (2-4 in the Parish Centre) and we are fortunate to have secured two excellent speakers: Dr Elizabeth Anderson, director of The Memory Tree, and Julie Rainer, from Carers Resource. Tea and cake will be available. This will need a lot of promotion to make it worthwhile for our speakers giving up a Sunday afternoon. Only one place has been confirmed so far. Susan has kindly agreed that her phone number can be the one given out for people to reserve a place. There will be a collecting bucket for donations. Action: all to work on promotion to make sure the posters and fliers are distributed everywhere and the village website and social media are fully used. Action: cake baking!
Subsequent to the meeting:
Susan has organised lots of publicity but we all need to promote this event. Quentin is going to organise a table with some memory aids and gadgets. Meet on the day at 1.30pm to help set up. More bakers needed. Poster attached with these minutes.
- 9th October – Leeds Area Quaker Meeting Quentin will be running an awareness session here
- BaDCoT awareness session The session planned for the 27th July was deferred with no new date as yet but we are still very keen to talk to the retailers and others business of Burley
5. Implementation of Action Plan
- Bus timetables – no progress; Action: Niccola to report back at next meeting
- Contacting schools and youth groups; Action: Sylvia to report back at next meeting
- Website: Niccola thanked Malcolm Fisher for his help in creating a new website as a sub-set of the village website. The draft can be viewed here: http://burleydementiafriends.weebly.com and Action: all are invited to give feedback and offer ideas for new content. It will go live in the next couple of weeks but needs more photos as some of the banner pictures are not working well at present on different devices. A new section is to be created which can incorporate information on local and national resources, including the details which Quentin has compiled.
- Grant application: Niccola has drafted the first pass of an application to the Parish Council but this can be kept on hold for the moment, given the success of recent fundraising.
- Draft constitution: The draft was reviewed and it was agreed that it was appropriate but it might also be interesting to see the consitituion of the Keighley and Ilkley groups. Action: Susan to see if we can get copies. Action: Niccola to adapt the draft and bring to the next meeting as a formal proposal for approval.
- Bank account: It was agreed we needed a bank account. Action: Niccola to establish which banks in Ilkley are demential friendly and then to acquire the appropriate papers.
- Treasurer appointment: Niccola was nominated and this was agreed unanimously and with thanks.
- Key numbers: this is to be a one-sided one page laminated document of essential contact numbers. A draft was shared by Niccola but this needs further work to check and update; Action: Niccola and any other volunteers to continue the work
- Memory Tree initiative: This has the potential to be the most important thing we deliver next year if we agree that it is our preferred way forward. Susan led a discussion, talking about the groups she has attended and explaining how they work. There are four in the area. For the first half hour everyone is together with informal activities and cake. Then the two groups – people with dementia and carers – separate and undertake different activities for an hour. For the first group, the leader might choose a topic such as school days; cinema; food; holidays; seasons and so on. The carers group, in a different room, have a volunteer chair person facilitating a peer support group. A typical session lasts for about 1 ½ / 2 hours and a voluntary contribution of perhaps £2.50 is made.
It was felt that using the skills of a paid worker (for the people with dementia group) would be the ideal way to proceed (at least for the first few months) and there is an excellent existing helper, Bob, who might be able to do sessions in Burley on a Thursday at a cost of £12.50 an hour plus travel time and petrol expenses. Elizabeth Anderson would be available to give support. There would need to be a serious commitment from volunteers who would need training, and the carers facilitation is also demanding. It was estimated that the cost would be around £50 a session but money is not the barrier here. The Parish Centre might be available on Thursday afternoons for £10-£20.
It was agreed that this would be of very real interest and that we should start with just one group a month, starting in perhaps February or March 2017, with ideally five or six couples. A workshop with Elizabeth was suggested. It was also suggested that there might be an opportunity in due course to work with the Menston dementia group. Members of our group need to be clear on what they can commit and how certain we are that we can proceed with this. Action: this needs to be the main item for the agenda for the next meeting.
6. Walkers are Welcome (WaW)Ann Greenhough talked about the WaW initiative and how this has developed in Burley. She also mentioned the health walk which happens each Tuesday morning and which could perhaps be a later stage for people to move onto. Insurance and expertise are now in place to offer accompanied tailored walks for people with dementia with or without their carer. These could be singly or in small groups. Three volunteers are willing to help now and there may well be others. It was suggested that this be offered informally now (including via Cuppa, Cake and Company) and tried out in a small way to very small numbers of people. The offer of help in this way was very much welcomed.
7. Other business
The following items had to be deferred as time ran out. They will be rescheduled to a future meeting:
- Slow shopping
- DAA meeting 12 September on Businesses, shops and dementia
- Research into carers of people with dementia led by Dr Penny Wright
8. Next Meetings
- Thursday 20th October - 2.00pm at the Parish Centre
- Thursday 17th November