Additional D-Café services in Ferring thanks to the National Lottery Community Organisations Fund We received £15,368 from the National Lottery Community Organisations Cost of Living Fund to increase our D-Café (dementia cafe) services at Beehive Care in Ferring. This has enabled us to offer some Saturday drop-in services and light breakfasts on selected dates in February and March. This means that we can offer these services free of charge to people affected by dementia and their families on the following dates: Saturdays 10th and 24th February; 9th and 23rd of March 2024 from 10am to 1pm. Tu ..read more

NHS reduced dementia services for Jan-March 2024! We have been informed that the NHS across Sussex has put in place plans to ‘protect patient safety, prioritise urgent and emergency care and achieve financial balance’ during this busy winter period (Jan 2024- March 2024). They have taken the decision to temporarily change and reduce some services to allow staff to be redeployed to other services. The Sussex Partnership has made the difficult decision to reduce the Memory Assessment and Dementia Services provided in West Sussex and in High Weald, Lewes and Havens in East Sussex, from January 20 ..read more

We are delighted to have been successful in receiving funding from the Sussex Community Foundation to run a regular Dementia Cafe at Abbeyfield Ferring. The new D-Cafe will be open every Monday and Friday between 10am and 2pm at the Abbeyfield Ferring Centre. Mondays will include a free art and craft group in the afternoon. Worthing Dementia Hub open times The Worthing Dementia Hub is open every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday between 10 am and 3 pm for support, advice and signposting. No need to book, just drop in. Brain Gym Our new Brain Gym course is for 10 weeks starting Thursday, 28 Septe ..read more

Worthing Dementia Hub has been awarded £7,550 for Drumming Down Dementia sessions We are delighted to announce this new project funded by the Arts Council England that will deliver 50 sessions of drumming fun for people living with dementia in the Worthing District. A trained session leader, who is a trained PT and drummer, will encourage people with dementia to participate in these fun sessions with large inflatable exercise ball and traditional drumsticks. The balls sit on top of large buckets with a diameter of 174 cms and participants will beat out the rhythm of the music with drumsticks ..read more

Dementia Friendly Worthing and Abbeyfield Ferring Society have launched a new hub, funded for three years by the National Lottery Community Fund. The hub is situated at 46 Goring Road, Goring-by-Sea and is open to support and signpost people living with dementia and their carers to services. There is flexible space with a separate quiet room and garden, a kitchen and room to have small groups meet. The opening went off with a flourish and was attended by people of all ages, their carers, health professionals, the Town Crier, charity representatives and people living with dementia in the Worthi ..read more

Dementia Action Week in Worthing sees Dementia Friendly Worthing launch a video for schools’ assemblies We have a host of events, virtual and otherwise, during Dementia Action Week 17-23 May, 2021. The most innovative of these is a pre-recorded assembly for children in local primary schools.  Dementia Friendly Worthing has been working with pupils from Our Lady of Sion School to ensure the video is interesting and informative for their age group and relevant to PSHE on the curriculum. Any school is welcome to watch and use the video which is available on You Tube. This was ..read more

Local families affected by dementia are being invited to take part in Time for Dementia, an award-winning programme, to help train the healthcare professionals of tomorrow and improve dementia care. The Time for Dementia project, supported by Alzheimer’s Society, pairs families affected by dementia with undergraduate students, helping to better educate them about life with dementia and the challenges that come with it. From September, Brighton and Sussex Medical School medical students will be taking part and Alzheimer’s Society are now seeking families in the area who want to make a differenc ..read more

National Lottery Funding for a Worthing Dementia Hub, innovative day services and support for people with dementia and their families Dementia Friendly Worthing and Abbeyfield Ferring Society are delighted to announce a 3-year project to support people living with dementia and their carers. The National Lottery Community Fund, the largest funder of community activity in the UK, is supporting the dementia project to the tune of £222,104 for three years. Jacqui Swindells, Chief Executive at Abbeyfield Ferring, who will oversee the Worthing Dementia Hub and respite services, said, ‘We’re delighte ..read more

Our first intergenerational Easter Concert was held virtually on 31 March and went out live on Facebook. What a success! Over 1,000 people participated and interacted through Zoom and the live stream. We were joined by people in care homes and in their own homes; children and a nursery school; proud parents who watched their children singing, acting, delivering monologues and playing the violin. The Alzheimer’s Society group, the Worthing Town Cryers, put together Easter poems and the whole programme was compiled by Tim Wilkins, Service User Involvement Officer. Chairman of Dementia Friendly W ..read more

We were delighted to feature Megan, a young singer from Worthing, in our virtual Christmas Carol Concert and to hear that she had been awarded a Blue Peter badge for her singing in care homes and virtually. Megan sang ‘Once in Royal David’s City’ to the delight of our viewers and their carers. Megan’s grandparents both have dementia and Megan has been singing free for care homes pre-covid. We heard that she had been missing the experience due to Covid-19 and invited her to play a part in our virtual Carol Concert for people with dementia and their carers. She was an amazing guest soloist and e ..read more