A grand boost for hospice’s dementia support service

Staff at Dove Cottage Hospice, at Stathern, from left, back row - Ingrid (chef), Dora (fundraiser), Nicola (retail manager), Gordon (volunteer), Chris (chief executive); front row - Natasha (admin), Nicola (nurse manager) EMN-210723-120634001

The home sitting initiative at the Stathern charity’s HQ provides a nursing assistant for a couple of hours to sit with people living with dementia, whilst the carer goes out and has time to themselves.

They will take time to chat, play games, watch TV, and enjoy a cup of tea and a biscuit with the person they are looking after, depending how advanced their condition is.

And the service has been recognised by Tesco’s Bags of Help community grant scheme, which has provided more than £68million to 30,000 community projects across England since its launch six years ago.

Alex Steward, the healthcare assistant who sits with those who have dementia through Dove Cottage home sitting service EMN-210723-120151001

Chris Gatfield, Dove Cottage’s chief executive, said: “Dementia is affecting more and more people in the UK every day, and Covid-19 has, very sadly,

made it extremely difficult for many of those living with dementia and particularly their carers, and so we want to try and help as many people as

we possibly can with our home sitting service.

“It’s a lifeline for people in our local community who are living with this upsetting illness, providing valuable time out for carers and stimulating social interaction for those with dementia.”

With voting not currently running in stores, Tesco colleagues worked together to decide which three local projects in their region should be

awarded a grant of £1,000, with the hospice being one of those chosen.

Claire de Silva, Tesco’s head of cmmunity, said: “Bags of Help contributes funds to community projects up and down the country and whilst our

customers have not been able to vote in this round, we’ve been delighted by the number of colleagues who have come together to choose projects in

their local areas.

“In what has been an extremely tough year, we’re looking forward to seeing these projects providing support for their communities brought to life.”

Dove Cottage also runs very popular online sessions for dementia carers once a month.

Their home sitting service is available to carers who want to go out for a well-earned break whilst their loved one is in a capable, safe and trusted pair of hands.

For more information, email [email protected] or call the hospice on 01949 860303.