Community’s latest move for dementia awareness
V THIRTY-NINE JFS pupils have been taking part in the Get Moving in May challenge, to raise awareness and funds to help Jewish Care support people living with dementia. More than 850,000 people in the UK live with dementia, of whom two thirds reside in the community and one third in care homes.
JFS pupils are taking part in the Run Together Marathon today, with each student running one mile to complete the marathon together.
“One mile might not make a big difference to me but could mean a lot to someone else. All our miles together can help many more people,” says year seven pupil, Rafaela Paley. Rachel Frink, headteacher at JFS, says: “It is fantastic to see JFS students supporting Jewish Care and Dementia Week through their collective marathon run. Supporting students to give to others is a cornerstone of JFS values to make a positive contribution in this world.”
Participants of the Yoni Jesner Volunteer Awards programme have also been walking or running 5K as part of the campaign. Employees at Clifford Chance law firm have been putting in the miles to ‘Slay 20K in May’ and employees at HSBC took part in a Jewish Care Dementia Friends session. To date, Jewish Care has delivered Dementia Friends training to more than 825 members of the community, helping them to understand dementia better and make small changes that make a big difference to people living with dementia.
Funds raised from the community projects will help Jewish Care to support many older people living with dementia and their families, in the community and in the charity’s care homes and retirement living apartments.
Rachel Miller, Jewish Care’s community engagement manager, says, “We are so pleased that members of the community are getting involved from a young age in raising awareness and funds to help us to support people living with dementia and their families. It’s so important that we all have a better understanding of dementia so that we can make small changes to build kinder, friendlier communities for people living with dementia.”