Dementia Concern has received £20,000 from the National Lottery Community Fund!

Today at Dementia Concern, we are celebrating being awarded £20,000 to provide essential transport to people living with dementia across the borough of Ealing to attend our weekly clubs. We also intend to use the funding to provide specialist driver training, for a more supportive and inclusive experience for our members. For each club, we run two mini bus services providing door-to-door pickups for our members. This is the first point in the day where our members are able to connect with their friends and their energetic, compassionate drivers who also take part in the running of the clubs.

We have been running weekly all-day clubs for people with dementia since the early 90s. With a new Friday club opening its doors to new members in 2024, We are able to provide this service to people living with dementia across the entire borough of Ealing, now running six weekly clubs based at three different community venues in Acton, Greenford and Hanwell, with 73 attendees from across eleven districts of Ealing.

The clubs are an integral part of our services. They are a place where new friendships are fostered, members are encouraged with activities and our specialist staff, and are offered a hot lunch to enjoy with their friends. The weekly clubs are equally as important for our network of carers, who are able to have valuable respite from their committed caring duties whilst their loved ones are attending the clubs; as a result, Dementia Concern were able to provide their carers with a total of 16,683 hours of vital respite last year.

To have the National Lottery Community Fund fund the our transport costs as well as specialist training means that we can continue to provide these clubs for all. Many of our members would be unable to access the clubs without the transport. Whilst all of our drivers are trained in first aid and health and safety, the fund will allow us to pay for specialist training focused on managing behaviours and understanding the difficulties that can be associated with dementia. Where struggles with mobility limit some of our members, the transport reduces health inequalities in access to nature and exercise, and prevents dementia from being a roadblock in people’s ability to be independent and make and maintain friendships. With research finding that ten minutes of social interaction improves wellbeing in dementia care, a ten-minute ride in the minibuses has a profound impact for someone with dementia.

"I don't know what I would do without coming to see you it has truly been a wonderful day" said one of our members as she was about to board the minibus home. Another member says “I love coming here because I can get out of the home and see other people”. One carer explains to us how her loved one who attends the clubs had previously stated they’re “not a clubby person” but now looks forward to attending every week.

Clubs Manager, Linda, says “ This is fantastic news. Without our wonderful drivers, the members can't access the clubs or the places we visit. The members all have a diagnosis of different types of dementia and live in various parts of a large borough, so they really need the transport. Some really enjoy the journey - singing, chatting and sparking memories of their local areas. The drivers are a vital part of the team - those attending get to know them well. The drivers contribute to creating positive experiences and providing that all so important social interaction for our member's wellbeing and enjoyment.

This grant will allow us to continue bringing people to the clubs whilst also providing specialist dementia training for our drivers. A huge thank you to the Lottery funders for allowing us to continue our much-needed specialist work.”

Driver Robert says “..we are, along with the Passenger Assistant, the first people the members see in the morning so we can relay any issues to the staff at the club. Also we are the last people they may see when we take them home so we see if they have had a good day and liaise with the family or carer if there are issues to be aware of - any other training would be very welcome”

Driver Tom says “its always good to see a smile on their face enjoying themselves and to know we the drivers are a part of that.. I am happy to attend any other training provided as we never stop learning.”.

The National Lottery Community Fund recently launched its strategy, ‘It starts with community’, which will underpin its efforts to distribute at least £4 billion of National Lottery funding by 2030.

As part of this, the funder has four key missions, which are to support communities to come together, be environmentally sustainable, help children and young people thrive and enable people to live healthier lives.

National Lottery players raise over £30 million a week for good causes across the UK. Thanks to them, last year (2023/24) The National Lottery Community Fund awarded over half a billion pounds (£686.3 million) of life-changing funding to communities across the UK, supporting over 13,700 projects to turn their great ideas into reality. To find out more visit www.TNLCommunityFund.org.uk