Libraries marking Dementia Awareness Week

[wendy]

Libraries marking Dementia Awareness Week with free workshops and new dementia book collections

26 April 2013

It’s Dementia Awareness Week next month (Sunday, 19 to Saturday, 25 May) and to mark it Norfolk County Council libraries will be offering extra support to the growing number of people in Norfolk whose lives are affected by the condition.

Seven libraries around the county will be holding free two hour workshops during the week called ‘Activities for individuals with dementia’. The sessions are aimed at people who live with or care for someone who has dementia and who want to get ideas for suitable and stimulating things to do with people who have the condition and with different levels of ability.

The workshops will be run by tutors from Norfolk County Council’s Adult Education and Guidance Service and are free to attend but must be booked over the phone in advance as places are limited. There will be workshops held from Monday to Thursday during Dementia Awareness Week, at the following libraries:

Thetford Library, 10am - 12 noon, Monday, 20 May. Telephone: 01842 752048
Stalham Library, 2 - 4pm, Monday, 20 May. Telephone: 01692 580794
Dereham Library, 2 - 4pm, Tuesday, 21 May. Telephone: 01362 693184
Fakenham Library, 2 - 4pm, Tuesday, 21 May. Telephone: 01328 862715
Great Yarmouth Library, 2 - 4pm, Wednesday, 22 May. Telephone: 01493 844551
Hunstanton Library, 2 - 4pm, Thursday, 23 May. Telephone: 01485 532280
Wymondham Library, 2 - 4pm, Thursday, 23 May. Telephone: 01953 603319

A free, day-long ‘Introduction to Reminiscence’ session on Thursday (23 May) at the Millennium Library in Norwich is already fully booked. However the library service is encouraging people who might be interested in attending this course in the future to get in touch. The course is aimed at volunteers who work with older people and who want to learn more about reminiscence activities as a means of stimulating memories. Contact Caroline Varney-Bowers at the Millennium Library to find out more and express an interest by emailing caroline.varney.bowers@norfolk.gov.uk or ringing 0344 800 8020.

Themed reminiscence kits designed to benefit people at various stages of memory loss and those with communication difficulties are available to borrow from any County Council library. With themes including the 1940s, the seaside and school days, the kits contain multi-sensory triggers to suit people who may be relating to the world using a variety of senses. For more information, ask at your local library.

A special collection of books designed to help the friends and family of people with dementia will also be launched during Dementia Awareness Week. There are 20 books in the new collection including true life stories and experiences such as ‘My Bonnie’, TV newsreader John Suchet’s account of coping with the diagnosis and aftermath of his wife being diagnosed with dementia. Also in the collection are books which offer practical and professional advice, such as ‘I’m Still Here: Creating a better life for a loved one living with dementia’ by John Zeisel, and fiction books for children who may need help in understanding why a relative is confused and forgetful.

The book collection will be launched at a tea party event at Wymondham Library on Thursday, 23 May. The tea party will run from 10am to 12 noon and is open to members of the public to attend. Guests will have the opportunity to talk to a representative from the Alzheimer’s Society, help raise funds for the charity by buying drinks and cake and browse the new book collection.

Along with Wymondham Library, the new dementia book collections will also be on display and available to borrow from libraries in Fakenham, Great Yarmouth, Hunstanton, Stalham, North Walsham, Dereham, Swaffham and Diss, and at the Millennium Library in Norwich, during Dementia Awareness Week. Library members will also be able to reserve the books and borrow them for up to eight weeks from any Norfolk County Council library or mobile library. Ask a member of staff for details.

Another dementia awareness tea party will be held at Sprowston Library on Tuesday, 21 May from 2.30 - 4.30pm, while St Williams Way Library in Norwich will hold a dementia awareness coffee morning on Friday, 24 May from 10 - 11.30am. Both events are being hosted with the help of Age UK Norfolk and the Norwich and District Carers Forum.

It’s free to join the library and free to borrow books, ebooks and magazines. DVDs, console games and CDs can also be borrowed at reasonable prices. For more information about library services, how to join and events ask at your local library or visit www.norfolk.gov.uk/libraries.
http://www.norfolk.gov.uk/news/NCC122427

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