Edinburgh Newsletter

April/June 2016 Edinburgh & West Lothian Services Edinburgh Newsletter

Welcome to our April Newsletter

Who would believe that we are in April, it only seems like yesterday when we were at the Christmas party. The first few months have brought a lot of change to the service in Edinburgh.

Marion has gone on secondment to Fife and Paula Frame is acting in her role as a PTL. You may know Paula as she has worked in the Day Club for a number of years. Louise Risk one of our Support Workers is now acting as a Day Club Organiser. We also welcome Lesley Jaap as a new Support Worker, Lesley has started well and we wish each of our new staff well in their respective roles.

We have recently completed a service evaluation, and thank you to all those who came along to Oasis to help with this. We hope to develop social activities as we move through the spring and summer, we will keep you informed. If you were unable to make the evaluation day but have something to say about the service then don’t hesitate to give me a call. Your views are always important to us.

Hope you are enjoying the Daffs and the first signs of spring, not so much the showers!

Take Care

Alan Service Manager

Our New Practice Team Leader

For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Paula Frame and I have just taken up the post of Practice Team Leader in Edinburgh alongside Elizabeth. I previously spent a very happy 7 years as the Day Club Organiser based at The Prentice Centre so already know many of you.

Prior to joining Alzheimer Scotland I was employed for 22 years with Standard Life – at this point the correct thing to say is I don’t look old enough!!!

I am very much looking forward to this new challenge within the organisation but will obviously miss the fun and banter within the day clubs.

Paula Frame Practice Team Leader

Edinburgh & West Lothian Service, The Prentice Centre, 1 Granton Mains Avenue, Edinburgh Telephone 0131 551 9350 E-mail [email protected] [email protected] Website www.alzscot.org Alzheimer Scotland - Action on Dementia is a company limited by guarantee, registered in Scotland 149069. Recognised as a charity by the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator, no. SC022315 22 Drumsheugh Gardens, Edinburgh, EH3 7RN 0131 243 1453

Edinburgh & West Lothian Services Newsletter

Day Opportunities Group

2016 has seen all the day clubs start with a bang, not a whimper! Each of the four day clubs have their own personalities and they each have their own favourite things to do, and yet there continues to be activities and outings that are loved by all.

We all started with our well established tradition of making calendars for the year ahead with favourite photos of the year gone by. Next up was Burns day with another tradition of reciting poetry to our lunch and celebrating all things Scottish. A couple of groups also visited the Burns portrait at the National Portrait Gallery which gave them a good excuse to visit the lovely café there too!

In February two groups celebrated the Chinese New Year (we do live in a multi-cultural society after all) and in March one group celebrated St. Patrick’s Day. As Spring has appeared to be just around the corner, there have been visits to garden centres and subsequent potting of plants, and as Easter has come upon us there has been the baking of Easter goodies and the donning of bonnets.

The Wednesday group continued to enjoy Jenny the student music therapist’s visits, and they got on board with the various themes of country ‘n’ western and rock ‘n’ roll etc. The Thursday group has perhaps peaked too soon, enjoying some wonderful live entertainment at the Tranent Film Club where there was singing, dancing and the party luckily coincided with a club member’s 60th birthday too!

On a more routine level, there have been visits to the Living Memory Association at Ocean Terminal and we have remained somewhat sporty with visits to play snooker and 10 pin bowling and in house games of skittles and table tennis. This is perhaps just as well, as due to popular demand there have been a couple of deliveries of fish and chips which have fueled our energy and added variety to our lunchtimes.

2016 is shaping up to be a good year.

Lindsay Gibson Day Opportunities Organiser

Edinburgh & West Lothian Services Newsletter

Sky’s the limit

As a Link worker providing one year’s post diagnostic support in North West Edinburgh, it is not often that I get to sit and watch a DVD of someone doing a sky-dive on my last visit. However, that is exactly what happened when I said goodbye to someone who had come to the end of Post Diagnostic support.

Helen Raeburn was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in February 2014 and, so as not to be out done by her husband (who was in the parachute regiment), she signed up to do a parachute jump on her 70th Birthday!!

Helen describes the feeling of leaping out of a small plane at 10,000 feet as the best thing she has ever done. She goes on to say that despite having dementia it was an experience that she shared with her family and is something that she will never forget. Her son James said that his mum has always had the attitude of living life to the full and that he is proud of the way she approaches struggles in her life.

Helen has an admiral attitude to life and believes that no one should be held back in attaining their personal goals. She feels strongly that you only get one shot at life and so people should make the most of their time. Over the course of PDS Helen has been supported to compile her own personal plan which includes her dreams and aspirations. Doing a sky-dive on her 90th birthday was top of her list!! As Helen said “Go for it – the sky’s the limit”

Eleanor Happs Dementia Link Worker North West Edinburgh

Free activities for people with dementia

The Royal Botanic Gardens, National Library of Scotland, National Museum of Scotland and National Galleries of Scotland are running regular Friday morning guided visits for anyone affected by dementia, their friends, relatives and supporters.

The activities are varied and free of charge. They have recommended that you book in advance so we have enclosed a leaflet with all the details.

Debbie Rae Administrator

Edinburgh & West Lothian Services Newsletter

Our Support Workers

I took up post as a Support Worker with Alzheimer Scotland (Edinburgh & West Lothian Service) in February 2009. My job involves providing one to one support for two people in their 60’s who have a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease. I work to a Support Plan for each, and these plans outline my objectives. One of my service users lives at home with her husband, and I take her out for 3 hours twice a week. My aim is to give her a chance to do things she enjoys, and help her maintain her social skills. She loves walks in the fresh air, singing, visiting art galleries and shopping. She always says how much she enjoys our outings, and we have become very good friends. My other service user has been in a Nursing Home now for over 2 years and I visit him for an hour each week. He was a professional man in his working life, and his hobby was steam trains. Prior to going into care, I used to take him out for 3 hours once a week, to do his shopping and have lunch. By the time he went into care, he had virtually lost the ability to speak, and would not take part in any activities. My objective is to encourage communication and interaction. It has taken him a while to settle, however, over the past 6 months he has made good progress. Whereas he was withdrawn and uncommunicative, he is now bright and smiling, and has begun to repeat words after me – sometimes even a phrase. I have a book on old Edinburgh which I show him most days. There are pictures of buses, trams and trains in it, which he loves to see, and will now turn the pages for me! I also use his photo albums, with pictures of his Mother and family, as well as holiday photos, and he now responds to these reminders of his past life. He obviously enjoys looking at them. Now I always get a smiling welcome when I arrive – which makes it all worthwhile.

My interest in this work stemmed originally from 2 friends who were diagnosed with dementia. I spent a fair bit of time with them, and came to appreciate how isolated someone can feel in this situation. So I do this job because I can see the difference that support of this kind can make to the person’s quality of life, and how it can improve the Alzheimer journey. The work is also extremely rewarding and brings a high level of job satisfaction – in fact it does not feel like work at all!

Margaret Anderson Support Worker

Forget Me Notes

It has been a busy time for the choir. We sang at Dynamic Earth and the Dementia Champion’s seminar and we will be singing at the BIG sing in Linlithgow on the 15th May.

The Forget Me Note are doing a concert with Gorgie Community Choir on:

Saturday 28th May 2016 7pm Salvation Army Hall, Gorgie Road, Edinburgh

Tickets cost £5 each (including refreshments) and the money will shared between Alzheimer Scotland and the Food Bank. Please call the office on 0131 551 9350 to reserve a ticket.

Edinburgh & West Lothian Services Newsletter

Dementia Cafes in Edinburgh

Cramond Café Cramond Kirk Hall, Cramond Glebe Road, Edinburgh, EH4 6NS First Monday of every month from 1.00pm to 3.00pm

Portobello Café The Espy, 62-64 Bath Street, Edinburgh, EH15 1HF Every second Friday from 11.00am to 1.00pm

Memory Café – South Queensferry The Haven, 25b Burgess Road, Edinburgh, EH30 9JA Third Thursday of every month from 1.30pm to 3.00pm

D-Café Quaker Meeting Room, 7 Victoria Terrace, Edinburgh, EH1 2JL Last Thursday of every month from 1.00pm to 3.00pm

Oasis (for people 65 and under) Eric Liddell Centre, 15 Morningside Road, Edinburgh, EH10 4DP Last Tuesday of every month from 11.00am to 2.00pm Please note that the time of this café may be changing so if you’re planning on coming along for the first time please call the office on 0131 551 9350 to double check the time.

Dementia helpline and website

The 24 hour Dementia Helpline is a freephone Scottish service for people with dementia, carers, relatives, professionals, students and anyone concerned about dementia. You can call 0808 808 3000 anytime and also email us: [email protected].

Further information about dementia and the support we provide can be found on our website www.alzscot.org.