Scotland's Dementia Awards celebrate projects which go the extra mile to help Scots with dementia and their families
The work of those who support Scots with dementia is set to be celebrated.
Scotland’s Dementia Awards have launched their eighth annual awards programme, to celebrate projects going the extra mile to support people living with dementia and their families across Scottish communities.
The awards are a partnership between Alzheimer Scotland, NHS Education for Scotland and the Scottish Social Services Council, to collectively celebrate the achievements of those outstanding people making a difference to support people living with dementia and their families across health, social service and community settings.
With six categories, Scotland’s Dementia Awards recognise the best innovative and ambitious dementia projects including: Best Care Home Practice Improvement, Best Hospital Care Initiative, Best Community Support Initiative, Best Dementia Friendly Community Initiative, Best Educational Initiative and Most Innovative Partnership.
Henry Simmons, Alzheimer Scotland’s chief executive, said: “I’m proud to be associated with Scotland’s Dementia Awards for the past several years along with our partners, to raise the profile of dementia care and support at its very best. As well as giving a positive platform to those working tirelessly to support people living with dementia and their families, the awards programme aims to showcase the wonderful approaches to care and support being pioneered here in Scotland.
“By recognising the very best dementia projects and partnerships making a positive difference to the lives of so many people up and down the country, professionals and communities have the unique opportunity to stand up and share innovations and positive collaborations that collectively helping us break down many social barriers to help ensure that nobody faces dementia alone.
“We hope that 2019 will as be our biggest year yet and we invite people from all sectors including health, social services and education and from the wider public, to enter to help us shine the spotlight on Scotland’s best dementia projects.”
The Stonehouse Jubilee Club won Best Dementia Friendly Community Initiative category in 2018 for the success of their social afternoon for people with dementia and their carers, run by volunteers. The dementia friendly club continues to provide activities including reminiscence quizzes, entertainers and outings, with a focus on music.
Christine Dickie, chair of The Stonehouse Jubilee Club, said: “We currently have an average of 90 people attending our Fun Music and Laughter weekly group. We were all absolutely delighted when our name was called out on the day. As it was a club day when we attended the awards ceremony, news went back to everyone and our members cheered and applauded. If you’re thinking about entering this year we’d say definitely go for it. It’s been great for us and for the members, we are all so proud of our hard work being recognised, especially the volunteers.”
The Dementia Dog Project, a charitable collaboration between Alzheimer Scotland and Dogs for Good, Scottish Prison Service and Paws for Progress CIC, picked up the Innovative Partnership Award title in 2018, for being the first initiative of its type in the world to blend dementia specialist services with the provision of highly trained assistance dogs.
Fiona Corner, project manager from Dementia Dog, said: “We were totally over the moon to win last year. It felt a huge achievement following all the work undertaken to deliver our project. Winning has helped us to raise further awareness of our small project and has also helped to highlight our innovate approaches to support people living with dementia and their families on a local level.”
Online entries are open now, with a deadline of Sunday 9 June. The ceremony takes place in Glasgow on 18 September.
