We are asking people to join us in dancing every day from 21 March to 26 May to show the Government that they can't ignore dementia.
We're going to dance for 66.7 days to represent the 66.7% diagnosis target which has been removed from the NHS Operational Planning Guidance.
It's so easy to support us - you just need to dance! This could be a 10 second boogie in your kitchen, your Zumba class, or a night out with your friends! A conga down a shopping aisle, a jump around at a birthday party, or an all-night rave - we don't mind! Every day you dance during the campaign, just let us know, and we can add you to our voice in support of dementia.
Please log your dances at the link below. It just takes 1 click!
Our DAD campaign will conclude on Monday 26 May (Bank Holiday Monday) when we will complete a dance marathon (almost) from Stockport Road in Mossley (where my Dad lived as a boy) to Stockport. If you would like to join us then get in touch!
If you would like to share your dances on social media (FB/Insta/TikTok) that would be fantastic. Please use these hashtags:
Many thanks in advance
Kate!
On Wednesday 19 March I visited the Alzheimer's and Dementia Show at the NEC in Birmingham. How to sum it up; surprising, emotional, inspiring, overwhelming, positive, uplifting!
I managed to squeeze in 10 separate talks, some of which I will summarise below.
Starting with 'Leading the charge. How the private sector is advancing Alzheimer's diagnosis with blood biomarkers' by Simon Worrell at Advance Tests. There is a blood test now available, although privately at the moment, not on the NHS yet, that is non invasive and drives early detection of Alzheimer's without having a lumber puncture and PET imaging which costs thousands and the waiting lists can be up to 2 years. This is very encouraging and I hope it will be available on the NHS soon which will massively reduce the time it takes to be diagnosed and start that all important treatment as soon as possible.
The next talk to mention was 'Dementia from the persons viewpoint, a window into their world'. This was fascinating and asked a member of the audience to put on glasses to effect their vision, headphones to effect their hearing, a mouthpiece to effect how they speak and a straight jacket (of sorts) to limit mobility to demonstrate the impact that dementia has on a person's ability to move and communicate and demonstrate why they have so many falls. It was a very powerful, visual way to understand what it might feel like to have dementia and also how important getting the right care, by trained professionals, is for a person with dementia.
I then attended 'Putting tools in the tool box to treat dementia' by the UCL drug discovery institute which was inspiring and hopeful. There are now treatments available that can actually slow dementia and change the course of the disease. We can no longer just manage the symptoms but we can delay or reverse the effects.
It was wonderful to hear about the amazing partnership between Nationwide and Dementia UK and their Fairer Futures initiative. You can now book appointments to see a Dementia Admiral Nurse in a Nationwide branch allowing personal, face to face and free advice.
This led on to 'Alzheimer's disease a New Era: Diagnosis and Treatment' by J Emer MacSweeney CEO at Re:Cognition Health which was inspiring and made me feel very positive about the future of actually finding a cure. The main takeaways were that early diagnosis is absolutely key, that making positive lifestyle changes can reduce your chances of getting dementia or significantly delay symptoms and most importantly that if you are in the very early stages then get on a clinical trial. These drugs that are actually reducing or reversing the effects are not available on the NHS yet but are free in the trial. Visit www.recognitionhealth.com for more information.
We had our annual fundraiser, Dance Against Dementia, on Saturday 1 March at the Masonic Guildhall in Stockport. To say that I was overwhelmed by the impact it had and the huge amount of money we raised would be a complete understatement.
Not only did we have a lot of fun but we raised an enormous £6,420.00 for Dementia Disco CIO. This money is going to cover all running costs for the charity for well over 12 months. These core costs are almost impossible to find funding for. This is why fundraisers like this are so important. This will allow us to concentrate on what is most important, to open more wonderful, free to attend discos.
Saying thank you does not even remotely begin to cover my gratitude for each and every person who bought a ticket and came along, who bought a pay it forward ticket so one of our lovely disco goers could come along, to everyone who bought some merch, a raffle ticket or who won an auction bid. You are all incredible!
The Stockport Masonic Guildhall you were absolutely brilliant! What an amazing venue and the staff were all wonderful!
HOLLOWSPHERE AV the lighting was beautiful and created such and amazing atmosphere. You were absolutely right about the haze. That screen and projector were something else. I was not expecting it to be so large but it made such a statement! A special mention to Ellie, the lighting engineer who ran the night so brilliantly!
Balloon Boutique the balloons looked amazing!
GHSK Events the food was fantastic!
The Parently Group the merch is fabulous and it was very popular! I actually had some back orders to fulfill as we ran out of stock.
ROCKET MERCHANDISE LTD the mugs, pens and bags all look great! They were also very popular!
A massive thank you once again to our amazing sponsors; Elder, musicMagpie, Visiting Angels Manchester South, Maverick Finance LLP, THP Law. You are the reason we were able to put on such a special magical event!
Thank you to everyone who donated raffle and auction prizes; Planisware, Exemplar Health Care, Stockport County Community Trust, Manchester City Football Club, Manchester United, Robinsons Brewery, The Produce Hall, Maverick Finance LLP, Heaton Sounds, Almond Family Pubs.
Thank you to all our amazing artists; Steve Flynn, Clint Boon, Robert Hodgkinson, Jack Carpenter, The Viaducts and our headline act Roukaya B! You definitely know how to get the party started and keep it going until the very end!
To our truly amazing volunteers; Alice, Dan, Matt, Amy, Rachel, Zoe & Lydia - you were incredible and were so busy all evening checking people in, selling merch, raffle and auction tickets and the selfie station! Thank you!
A special mention to Rich Darby who ran the behind the stage ensuring that all the artists were plugged in and ready to go. I definitely think you can add Director of Sound to your CV now! 😀
I really hope I haven't forgotten anyone!
