Welcome to the Burley-in-Wharfedale Dementia Action Group website 

 
At the time of our launch, there were 57 people in Burley-in-Wharfedale registered at our GP surgery as having dementia and there will be many more people in our village who do not have a formal diagnosis. Our primary objective is to ensure that Burley is a welcoming and friendly place for people with dementia and their families / carers, now and in the future.

The group was formed in October 2015 under the guidance of Lucy Maddison, community development worker, and Sylvia Bergin, dementia friends trainer. Since then a group of volunteers led primarily by Susan Collins and our chair Quentin Fowler, and including people with dementia and their carers, has put together an action plan which now provides a framework for our work. The action plan can be found on this site here. 

The Memory Tree @ Burley was launched on Thursday 18th May 2017.  The very popular sessions are on the 1st and 3rd Thursday each month. Please see The Memory Tree page for more information about these very special get togethers for people with memory problems and their carers.

The Action Group usually meets on the fourth Thursday of each month at 2pm in the Parish Centre (see our Events page for details). Anyone interested is very welcome. The group is chaired by Quentin Fowler with support from Susan Collins, Niccola Swan and many others. Minutes of recent meetings can be found on this website.  Whilst formal meetings have gone on hold during the pandemic, the group has continued to work together and we hope to restart regular meetings soon.
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Dementia information sessions have now been delivered to a great many people in the village, along with some bigger events with excellent and interesting speakers. Please see our Events page for details on the next sessions.

Dementia Friends is an Alzheimer's Society led initiative which aims to increase dementia awareness and change the way we think, talk and act about dementia. A Dementia Friend is someone who has attended one of the free one-hour information sessions and has committed to an action that will make the lives of people with dementia a bit better.  Anyone of any age can be a Dementia Friend, and every action counts - from helping someone directly or in spreading the word in a group in which you're involved or on social media.

Dementia Friendly Community of the Year 2017  - we were delighted that on 29th November 2017 the Burley Dementia Action Group won the national Alzheimer's Society Dementia Friendly Community of the Year Award. Thank you to everyone who has worked with us. Please see the news section for more details.

Dementia Friends Champions are trained volunteers who encourage their local community to understand more about dementia - what it's like to live with dementia and how to improve the lives of people with dementia. The Burley-in-Wharfedale Dementia Action Group is fortunate to have several trained champions.