HEINEKEN Drill Hotel Gidea Park

The group was set up by four carers when the group we previously attended, run by a local charity, suddenly stopped. We realised the benefit of being able to talk freely about your situation with other people who understand. Carers of people with dementia feel very isolated. The condition is often misunderstood, the usual characterisation being memory loss and an inability to recognise loved ones. This is a very shallow definition, with character change being one of the big problems. We started with about 26 carers but now have about 60 on our books. We started by meeting once a week, but have recently opened a second meeting at a different time of day, as we were becoming too big for carers to open up freely. Our emphasis is on allowing carers to offload and speak freely, so we have a separate room manned by volunteers who look after our cared for. Typical comments made by new members are "I realise I’m not the only one", "You understand what I’m going through", or "I feel so much happier and less stressed". We exchange ideas and solutions to various problems. Someone has usually been there before. We also arrange speakers on subjects relevant to our situations, such as power of attorney, care alarms and grief counselling. A local organisation called Peabody attends once a month to give benefit advice, allowing our carers to speak in private without being interrupted by their cared for. Last year when one of our Singing for the Brain sessions closed we started our own group called Music for the Mind. This has also been well attended. We are a self-funded group. We plan to arrange social events once a month at weekends as this is the time most carers find difficult. Last year we attended our local dog track, arranged an afternoon tea and a garden party. We hosted 95 people at our Christmas party. We also support our local theatre which puts on a lot of dementia-friendly shows.