Dementia UK’s Time for a Cuppa tea party at the House of Commons today received great support from MPs, key contacts from the health and social care sector and supporters of the charity.
The purpose of the Time for a Cuppa event, hosted by Stephen Lloyd MP, was to raise awareness of dementia issues and the work of Dementia UK with a special focus on the Admiral Nursing DIRECT helpline and to build and strengthen relationships with key influencers.
Justin Tomlinson MP said "Dementia is a growing concern and it was great finding out more about how Dementia UK supports family carers and people with dementia to live well with the condition.
“Admiral Nurses and the DIRECT helpline play a vital role in providing much needed support and advice to family carers and healthcare professionals and I will ensure that my constituency members are aware of these essential services. We all need to ensure that these services are supported at both a local and national level."
Barbara Stephens, CEO of Dementia UK says: “Dementia can have a devastating impact on people with the condition and their family carers. Dementia UK keeps family carers at the heart of everything we do and we work to support families affected by dementia”
Barbara explained the vital role that Admiral Nurses play in supporting family carers and influencing the health and social care setting within which they work by modelling best practice, mentoring and providing support/information to colleagues in the health and social care. Admiral Nurses liaise closely with a number of other practitioners, such as social workers, District Nurses, acute hospitals and community mental health teams so their impact is widely felt.
Barbara explains: “Ideally, we would like the influence of Admiral Nurses to be felt in every locality, for example, in every GP surgery”
Barbara Stephens asked all guests at the event to help raise awareness of and support the work of Dementia UK. Dementia UK also used the Time for a Cuppa tea party at the House of Commons to mark the start of a 24-hour virtual fundraiser to raise funds for the Admiral Nursing DIRECT helpline.
The national Admiral Nursing DIRECT helpline is the only helpline provided by specialist dementia nurses in the World and offers practical advice and emotional support to family carers, people with dementia and healthcare professionals.
People can support the charity by taking part in the Virtual Tea Party by donating online http://j.mp/tfacuppa or texting TFAC12 and £ donation amount and joining in the conversation on Twitter with hashtag tfacuppa
