I do not endorse all the comments in these articles. nor do I receive any inducements from publishers or authors and may include some articles, solely to generate some discussion.
I’ve been on my travels this week to London and Milton Keynes.
For three days I was able to give the appearance of some normality but the rapid use of my cognitive reserves told by Thursday.
We choose to put up a façade of normality as a sort of comfort blanket for ourselves and our families and talk about what we can do, not to belittle the experiences of others but to offset the abusive stigma that we face that can lead to disablement at the point of diagnosis and beyond.
Behind closed doors, the reality of living with Dementia takes over, it’s no party, I can tell you, mourning for a life that is slowly disappearing, losing control of who we are and being challenged by the person we are becoming.
The Brexit Smokescreen
The smokescreen of Brexit continues, passed the 29th March, as while MPs and the media focus on Brexit, more important concerns such as poverty, disability and rights are pushed ever further to the back of their consideration and action.
Since Sarah Newtons resignation as the Minister for Disabilities, no one has been appointed in her place, leaving a vacuum in Government for the representation of people living with disabilities.
The situation is further exacerbated by the Shadow Disabilities Minister, Marsha De Cordova, who seemingly talks more about what she is doing in Brixton than the potential rights abuses of the Mental Capacity (Amendment) Bill and the rights of people living with disabilities under the United Nations Conventions.
The Secret Facebook Group
I liken the House of Commons to a secret Facebook group, cut off from the rest of Facebook.
Anti-Democratic, anti-rights, anti anything that doesn’t fit with their own personal self interest.
I also liken the leaders of the Political parties to Neville Chamberlain, appeasers, waving their order papers and scanning their mobile phones in the chamber whilst,appealing to the majority of their party and big business, oblivious as the anger of people on both sides of the debate rises.
Also to Nero, fiddling with indicative votes whilst Democracy burns a slow death in the UK.
The Future
We need the unifying words of Churchill and the Social conscience of Lloyd-George.
Not the aggressive policies of Thatcher and Attlee who used force to further their interests.
As in 1945, we need a Caretaker Government, a Government of National Unity with a cabinet from the four corners of the Union to re-enfranchise the people of the union.
We need a Carbuncle to fight the disease of self interest and anti-Democratic, anti-rights, anti anything democratic.
To elect MPs that have long left behind the infant school playground and have learnt the skills of debate, compromise, democracy, social conscience and to be held to account by their local party.
Who listen and act on the concerns of the people they represent, thereby upholding their rights and the democratic principles they serve.
To once again be the servants of the people not their own, big business and their National Party’s self interests.
The Oxford Living Dictionary defines a politician as either:
1A person who is professionally involved in politics, especially as a holder of an elected office.
1.1A person who acts in a manipulative and devious way, typically to gain advancement within an organization.
Vacuum
The way the House of Commons conducts its business currently is leaving a political vacuum that the far-right and far-left are waiting to fill.
We only have to look back 100 years or so to the history of the 20th Century to realise that there may be a Lenin or Hitler, waiting in the wings, with their final solution to the Constitutional crisis that we now face.
Like Dementia, their rise to power over the individual is insidious, until one day they take control of us, stripping us of all humanity and choice.
Nominations for the National Diversity Awards 2019
“In Shropshire last year the DAA carried out a survey of experiences of people living with dementia and their unpaid carers. The areas of greatest concern were experiences of care in general practice and in hospitals.
So Shropshire Telford and Wrekin Dementia Action Alliance is concentrating on GP practices this year to get them to become dementia friendly, or at least start.
Here are some dos and don’ts for practice staff. No doubt you can add more…”
Dementia Diaries is a UK-wide project that brings together people’s diverse experiences of living with dementia as a series of audio diaries. It serves as a public record and a personal archive that documents the views, reflections and day-to-day lives of people living with dementia, with the aim of prompting dialogue and changing attitudes.
Who are we working with?
We are all part of the Dementia Engagement and Empowerment Project (DEEP). The Dementia Diaries initiative was designed by the non-profit communications agency On Our Radar (www.onourradar.org). It was launched by On Our Radar in January 2015 in partnership with Innovations in Dementia, Ownfone and Comic Relief, and was handed over to Innovations in Dementia in August 2016.
Phase 2 of the project is funded jointly by Comic Relief and BIG Lottery Fund.
You can use these Diaries as part of your Dementia Training.
As a courtesy, please email Rachel Niblock at Niblock@myid.org.uk to let her know that you will be using some of the Diaries, it helps when applying for funding in the future.
Nominations for the National Diversity Awards 2019 are now open.
Patrick J Ettenes is a member of of the 3 Nations Dementia Working group, Steering Group and founder at LGBT Dementia Network, working in Manchester and Brighton.
Having faced both HIV and dementia alone, Patrick Ettenes doesn’t want others to do the same.
At the age of 33 years, Patrick has already been through more than many people ever do.
Patrick, a gay man living in Manchester, is originally from Barbados but came to England to escape prejudice and discrimination.
Early last year he was diagnosed with frontal lobe atrophy. It was the latest chapter in a story that began more than 12 years ago.
Nominations for the National Diversity Awards 2019 are now open.
George Rook is the Chair of the 3 Nations Dementia Working group, Steering Group and Chair of the Shropshire Telford Dementia Action Alliance, diagnosed with Mixed Dementia at the age of 63.
Although George Rook, from Ellesmere in Shropshire, was certain that he was experiencing symptoms of dementia, he felt he had to struggle to receive a full diagnosis.
George had left full-time work as a school business manager and took on a part-time role at the British Red Cross in Shrewsbury. Part of this involved raising awareness about health services, and this led to him playing a central role in setting up Shropshire Dementia Action Alliance.
Nominations for the National Diversity Awards 2019 are now open.
The 3 Nations Dementia Working Group have been nominated for the Community Organisation Award.
The 3 Nations Dementia Working Group are run by a Steering Group of 12 people living with Dementia supported by the Alzheimer’s Society and are a friendly group of people diagnosed with dementia who want to make a difference whilst they still can.
Who are they?
We are a small group with big ambitions and we hope to do the following:
Bring the lived experience as experts with our personal knowledge of dementia that people value whether in a professional or non-professional capacity. As such our aim is to become the ‘go to’ group within the three nations (of England, Northern Ireland and Wales) for anyone seeking input from people with dementia.
Continue to contribute to society, to give value, advice and information where required and requested.
Help each other through mutual support, friendship and understanding.
Help all those affected by dementia. We understand what you are dealing with.
Help those who are trying to help us (such as policy makers, service providers, academics, researchers, businesses).
In an extract from her new book “What Dementia Teaches Us About Love” in the Guardian Newspaper, the Observer journalist Nicci Gerrard, remembers her father’s dementia and death, and reflects on the disease’s impact on society.
Exciting news from the Parson Cross Forum in Sheffield about new Memory Cafe’s
As part of our fantastic Unforgettable Me Project funded by The National Lottery Community Fund, we will be delivering 2 new weekly memory cafes here atParson Cross-Forum, starting on Monday 25th March and Friday 29th March 9.30am till 11.30am.
Our new additional cafes will run all year round, excluding Christmas Holidays and Bank Holidays and will offer a great support network for people living with early onset dementia and their family members.
We will also be continuing with our very popular Forget Me Not Memory Cafe on a Tuesday morning 9.30am till 11.30am (term time only) funded by the People Keeping Well in the Community Southey Owlerton Partnership and SOAR.
Also funded by The National Lottery Community Fund, is our late stage dementia project JABADAO. This runs Monday’s (excluding Bank Holiday’s) 1pm till 2pm for people living with mid to late stage dementia and peer support for their carers.
Give us a call to find out more about this project.
Parson Cross Forum, 56 Margetson Crescent, Sheffield, S5 9NB. Call 0114 3279727, email louisec@pxforum.org or private message us here on Facebook to find our more.
