A CHARITY celebrated a milestone achievement when Mold pupils joined their cause.
Ysgol Bryn Coch year six pupil Matthew Bryan became the 1,000th Dementia Friend created by Bev Perkins of Alzheimer’s Society when the school came together to mark Dementia Awareness Week (May 14-20).
The Dementia Friends programme is the biggest-ever initiative to change people’s perceptions of dementia and aims to transform the way the nation thinks, talks and acts about the condition.
Bev Perkins, advocacy manager at Alzheimer’s Society, said: “We’re calling on people in Mold to show their support this Dementia Awareness Week.
“Dementia doesn’t care who you are; it could affect us all.
”It’s set to be the 21st century’s biggest killer, with someone developing it every three minutes, and so many people are facing it alone.
“My son Charlie was in year six at Bryn Coch when I first became a Dementia Champion. He was my first Dementia Friend when I practiced the session on him.
“After that I delivered the session to his year group at Bryn Coch. It was so successful that I delivered it to other primary schools in the area.
“My son has since helped me deliver further sessions to his high school, Mold Alun. We return to Bryn Coch every year to deliver the session to the new year six class.
“When I started the session, I had made a total of 946 Dementia Friends. By the end of it, I had over 1,000. To make it fair, they were selected at random with a raffle ticket.
Charlie added: “Dementia Friends is about learning more about dementia and the small ways you can help.”
Alzheimer’s Society will hold a memory café at the Civic Hall in Connahs Quay today between 10.30am and 3pm.
There will be information and advice from local services, along with free tea and coffee. There will be a Dementia Friend session at 1pm. There is no need to book, simply go along.
To find out more about Alzheimer’s Society, visit: alzheimers.org.uk.
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