It was great to be back at Zurich’s headquarters at Unity Place in Swindon town centre last Thursday, for a Dementia Awareness Week event. Hosted by Zurich, I was pleased to see a whole range of local organisations that all work to support people living with dementia and their carers and families at the event. From Swindon Carers Centre, through to Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership (AWP), Wiltshire Police, Great Western Hospital and many other organisations that can make a difference in the lives of people living with dementia in Swindon.
You may have read in my previous columns that I have been working closely with organisations including Alzheimer’s Society and Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire Integrated Care Board (BSW ICB) to increase diagnosis rates here in Swindon. We still have quite low diagnostic rates, but we are now up to 51%. That has been a rise of 6% alone in the last year, which shows that local NHS organisations are working flat out to identify and diagnose people with dementia. I am hoping that, in the years ahead, we are going to see those rates continue to rise because we need to identify dementia, we need to talk about it, and we need to embrace and understand it, to support people who are living with it to lead fulfilling and happy lives and get the support and treatment that they need.
To end a whole week of Dementia Awareness events in Westminster and here in South Swindon, I was pleased to join the Forget Me Not team for a dementia awareness walk at Lydiard Park on Saturday afternoon. It was great to see lots of residents out and about and enjoying the sunshine in West Swindon too.
I spent a thoroughly enjoyable few hours with the staff and pupils at Nyland School last Friday morning, which is one of our excellent special schools here in Swindon. The dedicated team at Nyland School are working hard to help and support primary-aged children, who, for many reasons have not been able to manage mainstream education. I was very impressed by the supportive, positive, and professional environment at the school. It was wonderful to see a happy and thriving establishment well run by the Headteacher and his dedicated team. It was also great to learn more about the work that parents are doing locally to support each other, and I am looking forward to continuing to work with parents, as I have done for many years, to make sure that they don’t feel alone in this process, and that additional support, wherever possible, can be given to make sure that our young people thrive.
It is welcome news that the national charity, Papyrus Prevention of Young Suicide, has set up an office here in South Swindon. The charity is dedicated to the prevention of suicide and the promotion of positive mental health and emotional well-being in young people. On Friday, I met with the team in Swindon to learn more about their work so far here in the town, and I am looking forward to working closely with them over the coming months. The Papyrus Hopeline is available for children and young people who are experiencing suicidal thoughts, as well as to anyone who is concerned about a young person, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. You can also text or email Hopeline. Further details can be found here https://www.papyrus-uk.org/papyrus-HOPELINE247/
