The 4RDA Blog
July - A Multitude Of Tasks In Hand And Ongoing
31/7/2025
During July, I have been working on a few different things:• Following on from attending Kingston’s parish council meeting in June, I returned to the village to carry out a dementia friendly building assessment of the reading room, with one of the committee members (21/07/25). My written report has been discussed with the other committee members and they plan to implement as much as is practicable.
• I attended the Global Plymouth Launch Event for Phase 2 at the University of Plymouth (16.07.25) with my information stand. The event was about bringing together the commercial and third sector. I did not get the opportunity to speak as planned but nonetheless, the event was a great opportunity to network with other organisations present and let them know about the work of both 4RDA and Dementia Friendly Parishes Around the Yealm.
• I attended the South Hams District Caring Alliance meeting at Follaton House, Totnes (23/07/25) and gave an update about the work of 4RDA and Dementia Friendly Parishes Around the Yealm. Again, it presented the chance to start forming connections with a few of the great variety of organisations that were present.
• I attended the Yealmpton Show (30.07.25) with my Dementia Friendly Parishes Around the Yealm colleagues. Our information stand also included 4RDA information as the show always attracts a lot of footfall so is a terrific opportunity to promote the dementia friendly approach.
• I contacted a variety of parish/village magazines and newsletters across the 4RDA area to request writing an article about the work of 4RDA and a Dementia Friendly Parishes, to raise awareness and hopefully encourage some more people to get involved in 4RDA. I submitted an article to Kingston Parish Newsletter (Due to be published in the August edition) and one to Ugborough Parish News (Due to be published in the September edition).
• The “working towards becoming dementia friendly” information packs I drafted for schools and for retailers are currently both being edited and they will then go to print in early August.
Other things in the pipeline are:
• My work on writing an information pack for GP practices has started and will continue throughout next month.
• I will be meeting with the councillor who has recently become the designated lead for dementia friendly work at Shaugh Prior parish council (04/08/25) to discuss how they would like to make a start on working towards becoming dementia friendly.
• I will be returning to South Brent District & Caring to deliver another awareness session to more of their volunteer team (04/08/25). This session will also be open to the public.
• I will be submitting articles about the work of 4RDA and Dementia Friendly Parishes Around the Yealm to Ugborough Parish News and Modbury Messenger for their September editions and Bigbury & Ringmore News for their October/November edition.
June And Lots Of Things Have Been Going On
30/6/2025
• I met with Emily Damant, an Admiral Nurse (02/06/25). I informed her about the work of 4RDA and Dementia Friendly Parishes Around the Yealm and also about the key dementia support agencies in Devon and Plymouth. This was so that she could link up with them and let them know about the free Admiral Nurse clinics which are running in partnership with Nationwide Building Society branches throughout the UK (There is one in Plymouth approximately every three months-details in the news section of the 4RDA website).• I attended Cornwood’s parish council meeting (03/06/25). Cornwood have already made a start on their journey to becoming a dementia friendly parish, with their walking route, bench and some signage. I shared the 4RDA information pack for parish council’s and outlined the other types of support we could offer.
• I attended Kingston’s parish council meeting (19/06/25). They commented that there was a need for the input and that in the future they would be back in contact for advice and support.
• I met with Councillor Crystal Cao (16/06/25) who is a councillor for town council and also sits on their community engagement committee. Crystal will be supporting councillor Victor Abbott with working towards making Ivybridge dementia friendly. We discussed the work of 4RDA and Dementia Friendly Parishes Around the Yealm and dementia friendly communities in general. I also shared the 4RDA information pack for parish councils and the support we could offer. Crystal plans to discuss this with Victor and the town council.
• I delivered a dementia awareness session to a group of South Brent District & Caring’s volunteers and staff (24/06/25) which was well received. and am booked to deliver another one in early August as they have a large group of volunteers.
• I have drafted a “working towards becoming dementia friendly” information pack for schools and one for retailers which are in the process of being edited and printed.
Other things in the pipeline are:
• I will be attending the University of Plymouth’s International Awareness Day (16/07/25) with an information stand and will also be speaking at the event.
• I will be attending the South Hams District Caring Alliance meeting at Follaton House, Totnes (23/07/25) and will give an update about the work of 4RDA and Dementia Friendly Parishes Around the Yealm.
• As South Brent District & Caring’s have a large team of volunteers, I am booked to deliver another awareness session for them in early August.
• As mentioned in last month’s blog, I will work on compiling an information pack for GP surgeries next.
• I will be making contact with parish/village magazines across the 4RDA area to request writing an article about the work of 4RDA and Dementia Friendly Parishes, to raise awareness and hopefully encourage some more people to get involved in 4RDA.
A Variety Of Actions Happening Throughout May
3/6/2025
There has been a variety of things happening throughout May:• Following on from attending Ugborough’s parish council meeting back in February, they have designated a councillor to take the lead on dementia friendly work. I met with him (06/05/25) to discuss how to start moving things forward. It was agreed that he would do a walk round of the parish to familiarise himself with what is there and speak to his fellow councillors about it by their meeting in June. We would then make contact with each other again after this.
• I was the guest speaker at Ermington parish council’s annual meeting (06/05/25). The councillors were interested in looking at making the village dementia friendly. They have designated a councillor to lead on this and she will put it on the agenda for their June meeting to discuss how they would like to start off. I will contact them following their meeting to see what support they would like with this.
• Sparkwell-I attended their parish council meeting (13/05/25). I will follow up with them after they have considered working towards becoming dementia friendly at their next meeting.
• I visited Cornwood with some colleagues from the Four Rivers Dementia Alliance to go along their dementia friendly walking route and see the special bench that has been installed (14/05/25). This is something that is beneficial not just for people living with dementia but for anyone who lives in or visits the village. It is a wonderful contribution to the parish of Cornwood. See the PDF of some of the photographs relating to the visit.
• I have agreed with the person who is organising the summer fair over August Bank Holiday weekend at Ringmore, to send some Four Rivers and Dementia Friendly Parishes literature to display.
• I attended Bickleigh Parish Council meeting in March and am currently waiting to hear back from them about how they might wish to progress with the offer of support to work towards becoming dementia friendly.
• During National Dementia Action Week (19-26th May), I put up a dementia friendly display stand in Ivybridge Library which was there throughout the week with information about both Four Rivers Dementia Alliance and Dementia Friendly Parishes Around the Yealm and a selection of dementia friendly literature. See the photograph of our stand.
• Last month I worked on drafting a “working towards becoming dementia friendly” information pack for schools and this month I have been working on creating a draft pack for retailers. General Practice surgeries will be next. Currently, the draft for school's is being proofed ready for printing and a strategy discussed for distributing.
Other actions in the pipeline are that will be expanded upon in June are:
• I will be meeting with Emily Damant who is an Admiral Nurse (02/06/25) to talk about their free Admiral Nurse clinics which are running in partnership with Nationwide Building Society branches throughout the UK (inc. Plymouth and other areas of Devon) and to let her know what's happening and what's available within the local community ensure they share appropriate support with people attending clinics.
• Cornwood-I am booked to attend their parish council meeting (03/06/25).
• Kingston-I am booked to attend their parish council meeting (19/06/25).
• I am booked to deliver a dementia awareness session for South Brent District & Caring’s volunteers. This session will also be open to the public (24/06/25). This event will also be publicised on our website.
• Harford Parish Meeting, I had planned to attend their parish meeting (07/05/25) but there was a mix-up with the date and I have been invited to attend their next meeting in November instead. Harford is the smallest parish area in the Four Rivers Dementia Alliance area and hold parish meetings instead of regular parish council meetings. (Currently awaiting a date to be confirmed for this).