To mark this year’s World Alzheimer’s Day, there will be a special dementia-friendly screening and Dementia Friends session by the Haringey Dementia Action Alliance at the Crouch End Picturehouse next Wednesday.
The cinema will hold a special screening of a selection of films from the British Film Institute archive for the Hornsey Housing Trust’s Dementia Friendly Café, followed by a Dementia Friends session from 5.30pm to 6.30pm and a casual reception afterwards from 6.30pm.
Haringey DAA was launched late last year but has made a real impact in the community already in order to help raise awareness and fight against the disease.
The Alzheimer’s Society is the UK’s leading dementia support and research charity and has undertaken research to show that 850,000 people in the UK have a form of dementia and in less than ten years, a million people will be living with the condition.
Around 225,000 people will develop dementia this year, which works out as one every three minutes and this will soar to two million people by 2051.
Russell Douglas, the Alzheimer’s society operations manager for northwest London, believes it is important that different organisations work together to make a positive difference and raise awareness.
He says: “This event is an opportunity for all members of the DAA to get together and reflect on a really strong start to the alliance.
“We’ve seen young people at Haringey Sixth Form actively raising awareness of dementia, the Picturehouse running dementia friendly screenings on a regular basis and Hornsey Housing Trust looking at improvements it can make to the environment.
“Shopping centres have also been brought into focus with The Mall at Wood Green putting up lots of information in its centres and training staff to be dementia aware. The Bridge Renewal Trust is also cultivating an ongoing relationship between the DAA and volunteers. It’s all very exciting and good to see that we’re all pulling in the same direction.”
Alwyn Lewis, chair of the Haringey DAA and CEO of Hornsey Housing Trust, hopes the festivities will keep growing each year.
He adds: “I’m really pleased we can already get together so many members and supporters from the borough who are working to make Haringey more dementia-friendly.
“Over the next year we aim to bring many more organisations on board so that we have an even bigger celebration next time.”
World Alzheimer’s Day, Crouch End Picturehouse, Tottenham Lane, Crouch End, N8 9BY, Wednesday September 21. Details: alzheimers.org.uk
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