Free pop-up dementia clinics in Reading
It's part of a Dementia UK project to offer support in the community
Dementia UK, the specialist dementia nursing charity, is in Reading this week offering free face-to-face ‘Closer to Home’ clinics to provide support to families living with dementia.
The clinics are being held in the Reading branch of Leeds Building Society, bringing emotional and practical support closer to families with dementia through the charity’s specialist dementia nurses, known as Admiral Nurses. Dementia UK’s Closer to Home clinics will run on the 8th, 9th, 14th, 15th and 16th of November 2023.
The face-to-face clinic will offer a safe, comfortable, and private space for families to discuss any aspect of dementia and receive the specialist support of Admiral Nurses. Between June 2021 and August 2023, over 3,600 families have been helped through Dementia UK’s ‘Closer to Home’ virtual clinics, and the charity has partnered with Leeds Building Society to offer in-person support across the United Kingdom since 2022.
In April 2020, Dementia UK and Leeds Building Society announced a four-year partnership to raise £500,000 to help over 2,500 families with dementia across the UK. As part of this partnership, the innovative ‘Closer to Home’ project was also launched in June 2021, to improve access to dementia care and support.
Hannah Gardner, Admiral Nurse at Dementia UK, said:
“We’re proud to bring our Closer to Home project to Reading and offer specialist face-to-face clinics in the area. We know the difficulties that families in Reading often experience. We know that dementia doesn’t just affect the person with the diagnosis: families, friends, and carers are also impacted.
“Since launching in 2022, our Closer to Home clinics have made a difference to families across the UK, helping us to deliver specialist dementia support in person. It’s been brilliant to see the difference this makes and we are looking forward to supporting people in Reading in partnership with Leeds Building Society.
“Dementia is a huge and growing health crisis – someone in the UK develops dementia every three minutes. This means it’s more important than ever for us to reach families and offer one on one support from our dementia specialist Admiral Nurses. From worries about memory problems to understanding a dementia diagnosis and how the condition progresses, we will be providing practical and emotional advice on caring for someone who lives with this progressive condition, along with giving advice on financial and legal issues.”
Dementia UK’s Closer to Home clinics will take place in Reading on the 8th, 9th, 14th, 15th and 16th of November 2023.
To book a confidential and in-person appointment with an Admiral Nurse, visit dementiauk.org/closer-to-home