People with dementia and carers joined Jeremy Hunt MP for South West
Surrey and representatives from Alzheimer's Society in Godalming on
Friday 7th February to find out more about Dementia.
The event - the second of three in South West Surrey - gave Godalming
residents an opportunity to find out more about dementia support in the
local area. People with dementia and their carers were encouraged to
have their say on key issues that affect them locally. Themes included
Dementia Friendly Communities, community services and hospital services.
The event also included an 'information' marketplace in which people
spoke directly to organisations such as the Department of Work and
Pensions, Dementia Friendly Surrey, Age UK and The Royal Surrey County
Hospital.
Jeremy said, Fighting dementia is one of my top priorities. Dementia is
where cancer was in the 1960s - people are scared of it, but no one
likes to talk about it. But if you confront the challenges openly there
is so much you can do to stave off the onset of the disease, and change
the way we all treat people with memory problems. These public meetings
have been set up with the Alzheimer's Society to give out vital
information and encourage more people to become Dementia Friends. I was
delighted to see such a large number attending the meeting in Godalming
and it was a privilege to meet carers and those with dementia from the
constituency who are so bravely speaking about their experiences for the
benefit of others.'
Becky Jarvis, Alzheimer's Society Operations Manager for Surrey, said:
"We are delighted to have the support of Jeremy Hunt MP to deliver this
series of events that will help us to reach out to more people in the
community. There are currently 15,000 people with dementia in Surrey and
this number is rising. It's vital that people with dementia and their
carers have access the right support to enable them to live well with
the condition."
There will be one further information and discussion evening on Friday
25th April in Gostrey Centre, from 5-7pm. Please register your interest
via S[email protected]
Jeremy Hunt will also be involved in a fundraising walk in aid of
Alzheimer's Society at Farnham Park on Saturday 24th May. His
fundraising page is: http://www.justgiving.com/Jeremy-HuntMP For more
information please contact [email protected]