Intu Braehead shopping centre held a day of dementia awareness raising, fundraising and musical performances orchestrated by Alzheimer Scotland to mark Scotland’s Dementia Awareness Week on Tuesday.
As well as hosting a day of activity, intu Braehead unveiled plans to become a dementia-friendly shapping mall as part of their ongoing engagement with Alzheimer Scotland Renfrewshire Services, with employees and retailers within the popular shopping centre taking part in Dementia Friends information sessions.
Alzheimer Scotland entered the annual awareness week by celebrating a major new milestone with 60,000 people joining the Dementia Friends initiative across Scotland which tackles perceptions of dementia. With increasing numbers living with the condition, the Dementia Friends programme aims to transform the way the nation acts, things and talks about the condition as well as challenging the stigma of the condition which still exists.
Taking centre stage was Singing Memories – a local musical reminiscence support group which has been created for people living with dementia and those who care for them – children from Paisley-based Nursery Times as well as Stephen Murphy from local band Velvet Noir.
Iain Houston, Alzheimer Scotland Dementia Advisor, commented: “People with dementia should be recognised and supported as valued citizens in our communities. We know that people can live well with dementia, but they cannot do so alone. We all have a part to play in making a difference.
“Our mission is to help make daily life better for people living with dementia and their carers and change the way local people think, talk and act when it comes to dementia. We welcome intu Braehead’s engagement with our Dementia Friends programme and look forward to working with the popular shopping centre going forward. By taking steps to become a dementia friendly business, employers and businesses gain the awareness and confidence to help make a positive difference to their customers who are in need of extra support. ”
Lydia Brown, intu Braehead’s community development manager said: “We aim to make intu Braehead as welcoming a place as possible for everyone to visit.
“We appreciate there can be particular issues that face people with dementia when they come to a place like intu Braehead.
“Our staff have been through the Dementia Friends information sessions so they can better understand how they can help make people living with dementia feel more comfortable and relaxed in the surroundings of a shopping centre and a leisure destination like ours.
“We hope by having the Awareness Day at intu Braehead we can give Alzheimer Scotland a platform to get their message across to thousands of people.”