Talbot Village Trust has awarded more than £6,000 to a charity which organises creative workshops in Dorset for people with dementia.
Arts 4 Dementia received the funding from the grant giving charity to promote its stimulating arts classes, which take place across Bournemouth, Poole, Christchurch, East Dorset and Purbeck. The aim of the workshops is to help override the symptoms of dementia, as well as to help people to prevent the onset of dementia.
Funding was also spent on printing programmes and posters for Reawakening 2017, which was the first arts and heritage festival in Dorset aimed at people with the condition. The festival was created to celebrate the county’s history through activities including art, dance, drama, music, poetry, stone and wood carving.
Veronica Franklin Gould, president of Arts 4 Dementia, said: “We are overwhelmed by the generous grant from Talbot Village Trust. The funding was primarily to benefit the participants of the county’s arts and heritage activities for dementia. It has significantly helped us to advance our mission, which is to enable people with dementia and their carers to live a fulfilling and active life in the community for as long as possible.
“Our Reawakening programme is designed to link services and raise awareness of existing opportunities, as well as to introduce new ideas to people affected by dementia, carers, diagnosticians and memory services. Members of the public can visit our Arts 4 Dementia website to find out about local activity sessions held all over the county and about dementia-friendly venues.”
Russell Lucas-Rowe, Trustee of Talbot Village Trust, said: “We are glad that we could help the fantastic team at Arts 4 Dementia to extend their reach in terms of raising awareness of the activities they can offer to people with dementia.
“It is important to us and Arts 4 Dementia that people with dementia continue to feel like valued members of the community. Therefore, we want to support the workshops which are making a significant difference to people across Dorset.”
Talbot Village Trust meets biannually, and will be accepting applications for funding from both previous and new applicants in the area before the Trustees meet in spring of this year. Please go to www.talbotvillagetrust.org for more information.