A community group in Orkney – Dementia Friendly Orkney – is campaigning to increase awareness of the condition and encourage the island’s inhabitants to become more informed about dementia.
A donation of £680 from the Scottish Sea Farms Heart of the Community Trust will help the group to design and produce flyers, posters and booklets in a campaign that will kick off this summer.
Marilyn Buchan, Secretary, Dementia Friendly Orkney and one of Scotland’s first dementia champions, said: “We hope to increase dementia awareness throughout Orkney and promote customer care within businesses by advertising. The next plan is to have Dementia friendly cards produced that can be shown in shops and cafes and other places.
“We have been doing lots of fundraising and are currently setting up a singing group for people with dementia. Singing is not only an enjoyable activity, it can also provide a way for people with dementia, along with their carers, to express themselves and socialise within a fun and supportive group. These activities also build on the well-known preserved memory for song and music. Even when many memories are hard to retrieve, music is especially easy to recall. This cash from Scottish Sea Farms towards our marketing is most gratefully received.”