A pioneering initiative to provide more comprehensive support to people living with dementia and their carers is celebrating its first anniversary.
The hub, which opened at Everdon Road in Holbrooks on July 24, 2023, offers a range of different activities, information and advice sessions, traditional day services and outreach. There is also the dementia-friendly Forget-Me-Not Cafe and social space.
Illustration produced during development of the Dementia Partnership Hub to highlight the most important elements for those living with dementia and the organisations that support them; photo courtesy of Coventry City Council
The steering group that oversees the hub boasts representatives from a number of specialists in the field, including representatives from Admiral Nurses, Age Uk, Alzheimer’s Society including Dementia Connect advisors, Carers, Carer’s Trust, Lions Club of Coventry Godiva, Coventry City Council (Adult Social Care), Coventry Police Partnership Team, Dementia Champions, Memory Assessment and Community Dementia Service and West Midlands Fire Service. There are also a team of volunteers.
Funding to develop the hub was provided by Coventry and Warwickshire Integrated Care Board.
Cllr Linda Bigham, Cabinet Member for Adult Services at Coventry City Council, puts the success of the initiative down to a number of factors: ‘It’s the enthusiasm, it’s the friendliness, it’s the feeling that there’s one place open they can go and get advice from all sorts of different people – not going here, there and everywhere seeking advice. It’s all here in this spot.’
Stewart Jennings, Vice President of the Alzheimer’s Society, made use of the hub himself, visiting with a family member who was living with dementia: ‘It means so much because it’s a place where she could come and be safe. It was a place where I was able to meet with other carers. It’s just a tremendous resource and such an innovative way of using this space.’
Deborah Farell, Dementia Hub Manager, says: ‘When I think back to this time last year, we just had a blank canvas and didn’t know how it was going to end up. A year on, I’m just really proud of everything we’ve achieved.’
For more information, see the Dementia Partnership Hub pages of the Coventry City Council website.
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