Hello reader

In May's issue:

• Hello reader

• Welcome message from Sally

• Dementia Action Week 2025 19 - 25th May

• Meet Imogen, our new Fundraising Manager!

• Coming up…

• Our Long Goodbye: Writing Workshop for Carers

• Dates for your diary!

Welcome message from Sally

However, I wonder whether some families delay getting a diagnosis for their relative because there is so little on offer by way of treatment or services, and because of the stigma around dementia.  If we had the complete range of high quality care and support services, then it might be worth getting a diagnosis….

That’s why we, at Together Dementia Support, want to draw people’s attention to the inequity of services for people affected by dementia compared with people affected by other illnesses , such as cancer.  We believe that there should be enough capacity for all carers to have close one-one support from a trained professional, that they should be able to easily access a break (and respite care for their loved one), and that people with dementia should have practical, emotional and social support to get the best out of their remaining years.  Not enough of this is widely available across the UK and those who hold the purse strings aren’t yet persuaded to allocate more for dementia. 

If you would like to send a letter to your Councillor or MP this Dementia Action Week, calling for more money to be allocated to dementia services, but would like help - let us know. We can help by sending you a template letter to complete.  Equally, if you write your own letter, please share it with us as it’s good to know how much of a campaign we can build.

In the meantime, we’ll be raising awareness on social media and running a couple of great events that we hope you’ll come to:

• Our special Dementia Café at the Amani Centre on Thursday 22 May is a chance to listen to other carers sharing things they’ve learned.

• Our Living Well with Dementia event will be a fun afternoon at Village 135 in Wythenshawe where carers and people with dementia can enjoy a range of activities, finishing with a disco!

We hope to see you at one of the events or at one of our groups! Read on to find out more information, including dates and times.

 Sally, CEO
Together Dementia Support

Dementia Action Week 2025
19 - 25th May

This Dementia Action Week, we challenge everyone to take action to better support people affected by dementia - by learning, spending time with them, and changing your attitude.

Have a look to see what we have going on:

Sunday 18^th May: The Great Manchester 10k
Come and support Team TDS! We have 30 runners, including Dennis Gibson, who lives with dementia, lacing up their shoes on the 19th including members, carers, staff and volunteers. Follow our social media to support from a distance, or contact Imogen (our new Fundraising Manager) to join our Cheer Point: [email protected].

Monday 19^th May: Fabulous Forgetful Friends meeting
You’re invited to come and join our activist group for a session - get to know our members, and learn more about what they get up to as they share their lived experiences of dementia, and push for positive change in Manchester.
🕙 11am - 1.30pm
📍 The Amani Centre, 144 Moss Lane East M16 7DG. 

Tuesday 20^th May: MFT Dementia Conference, Wythenshawe Hospital . 
We’ll be at the conference along with other organisations - TDS will have an information stalls, and some of our Carers and FFF members will be speaking! Our Together In Song Choir will be singing at lunchtime.

Thursday 22^nd May: Dementia Action Week Dementia Cafe
Learn from the experts at our Dementia Cafe - come enjoy an Afternoon Tea, and listen to our carers and people living with dementia speaking about what they’ve learned whilst navigating their dementia journey. 
🕙 1.30 - 3:30pm
📍 The Amani Centre, 144 Moss Lane East M16 7DG. 

Saturday 24^th May – Living Well with Dementia Event
Join our staff team for a fun afternoon of therapeutic activities and a dementia disco, both people with dementia and carers. Refreshments included!
🕙 2pm - 4:30pm
📍 Village 135, 3 Hollyhedge Court Road, Wythenshawe, M22 4ZP 

Meet Imogen, our new Fundraising Manager!

Hi everyone! I’m Imogen - your new Fundraising Manager here at Together Dementia Support. I’m really excited to join the team and work together to support people living with dementia and their loved ones across Manchester.

A little bit about me - I love hiking and Pilates to keep my mind and body balanced, and I’ll be putting my fitness to the test as I take on the Great Manchester Run 10K on 18th May! to raise money for TDS. We still have 3 places left if anyone would like to join me!

We’ve also got some more exciting fundraising events coming up:

Great North Swim in Lake Windemere: 14^th June

We have ten places (six one-mile and four half-mile swims) for this iconic cold water challenge and we'll include transport from Manchester to Windermere and back! All we ask is that you raise a minimum of £200 (of course, we'd love you to raise more!) so that we cover our costs and raise some vital funds for our members and their families.

Whether you're a cold water regular or a newbie, this challenge is going be epic!

Palazzo Tower Abseil at the Trafford Centre: 27^th and 28^th June

Our intrepid abseilers will climb up the 170ft where they will be kitted up and trained. Then, one by one, they will step out into the unknown and become TDS fundraising heroes! We still have places so if you are courageous enough to brave the challenge head over to our website and register now.

If you're up for a fun challenge to raise vital funds so that we can continue providing support to those living with dementia, I'd love to hear from you.

Drop me an email if you'd like a chat or have any fundraising ideas: [email protected]

Coming up…

Our Long Goodbye: Writing Workshop for Carers

Artists Jenny Harris and Lowri Evans are putting on a writing workshop for TDS carers and we hope some of you will Beth and Paula - and join in! Three TDS carers have already attended and found the experience both relaxing and rewarding. They didn’t know they had so many things that they wantd to express!

📅 Saturday 12^th July
🕙 1.30 - 3:30pm
📍 Sale Waterside, 1 Waterside, Sale, M33 7ZF
🚗 Transport available

In this workshop we will explore creating art about dementia. Ways you can do this and what impact it can have. Through conversation and creative writing, we will share experiences and spark new ideas whilst questioning:

• How do we artistically and ethically talk about Alzheimer’s

• How can art improve wellbeing?

• Can art help people experiencing dementia to feel seen and heard?

Our Long Goodbye is an exhibition of photos, films and texts that document one mother and daughter’s relationship – to each other and Alzheimer’s. It is touring June - December 2025.

About the workshop leaders

Jenny Harris is an experienced freelance drama practitioner in Manchester who works with groups of all ages and abilities using drama and storytelling to promote confidence, well-being, connection and inclusion. She is the lead artist on the ‘Care Aesthetics’ project led by Professor James Thompson at the University of Manchester.

Since 2014 she has led ‘Storybox’ sessions - a creative project for people living with a dementia and their carers and family. When her Mum was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s - her professional and personal words collided. This work is the outcome of that experience.

Lowri Evans is an artist based in Manchester, who makes intimate art projects in unusual places with complete strangers. Art is her way of saying ‘sometimes I feel like this, do you?’ She has 20 years’ experience of creating small and large scale participatory art projects in a variety of settings, from care homes to shopping centres, canals to roundabouts.

From 2010-2013 she developed and delivered Storybox sessions for people with dementia and their carers; in the moment, imaginative storytelling sessions. At the heart of her art projects is a deep empathy for others and otherness, a sensitive and subversive approach that reveals the extraordinary in the everyday.

Dates for your diary!