Living well for Dementia Week at Templars Square
Thursday 11th May 2017
There are just a few days to go until the launch of a week of unique dementia-themed events at Templars Square Shopping Centre as part of Dementia Awareness Week (15th-21st May 2017.)
Ageing: From Birth and Beyond will include hands-on activities and workshops for all ages aimed at helping keep your mind and body active and healthy as you age, as well as a chance to understand more about the science behind getting older.
On Mon 15th May (from 3-5pm) Living Well Oxford, the group behind the Templars project, will be holding a Dementia Cafe at The William Morris JD Wetherspoon Pub for people with dementia and their carers to relax and socialise. The Museum of Oxford will lead a reminiscence session about living and working in Cowley, plus one of Britain’s top medical practitioners Sir Muir Gray, author of Midlife: Look Younger, Live Longer and Look Better, will be giving a talk. There’ll be information about living with dementia and local support services, as well as plenty of refreshments.
On Wed 17th May, Templars Square is having its first Dementia Friendly Shopping Day. Support will be on hand from local charities so that people with dementia and their carers will be able to have a relaxed haircut, beauty treatment or shop for clothes in the centre. The day will finish with another Dementia Café at Boswells Café. There’s also a Singing for Fun session on the Wednesday morning and poetry workshops on Thursday 18th May.
Living Well Oxford is also hosting a number of special events upstairs in the training rooms at Templars Square Shopping Centre. On Friday 19th at 2-3pm, Turtle Song is a singing and song-writing initiative by Turtle Key Arts, English Touring Opera and the Royal College of Music for people with memory problems and all forms of dementia and for their carers. Living Well Generations will offer fun activities for all the family on Sunday afternoon.
Also for carers and professionals working with people who have dementia, there are specialist sessions including a free Workshop on Intensive Interaction and a Carers Coffee Morning on Saturday 20th May. The sessions include lots of advice, support and FREE CAKE!
Ageing from Birth & Beyond is organised by Living Well Oxford and supported by a Wellcome Trust People Award. Owen Acland, Centre Manger at Templars Square Shopping Centre says, “This is a fantastic opportunity for our staff and visitors. We want Templars Square Shopping Centre to become a dementia champion, an example of how a retail community can work together to be dementia friendly and support our older customers.”
For more information and booking visit Living Well Facebook here or Blog here.
Living Well Oxford is a collaborative public engagement project between the Oxford Academic Health Science Network, Science Oxford and the Oxford Health Experiences Institute to support the exploration and understanding of health and healthcare.
The Oxford Health Experiences Institute – HEXI is a unique, interdisciplinary research institute dedicated to the understanding of experiences of health, illness and healthcare, using this understanding to transform care through influencing policy, practice and education. hexi.gtc.ox.ac.uk
Oxford AHSN (Academic Health Science Network) is a partnership of NHS providers, commissioners, universities and life science companies working together to improve health and prosperity in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Milton Keynes and Oxfordshire. OxfordAHSN.org
Dementia Awareness Week is supported by the Alzheimer’s Society. The Alzheimer’s Society is a UK charity, which provides support and research for those affected by dementia. alzheimers.org.uk
