Posted on Wednesday 27th November 2024
Stone Alzheimer's Club
People with Alzheimer’s living in Stone and the surrounding areas are benefiting from an innovative project thanks to a local voluntary group and funding from the county council.
The Stone Alzheimer’s Club’s Better Lives project provides support and special clinics designed for people with Alzheimer’s or dementia, their family and carers. The project received £500 from Staffordshire County Council’s Local Community Fund.
The free monthly clinics deal with a range of topics including legal advice with a local solicitor, form filling and benefits claims support, and help accessing digital services. Members of the group can also access physiotherapy to help keep themselves as active as possible, blood pressure monitoring by the local surgery, along with hairdressing and nail care.
Mike Ellis, Chairman of Stone Alzheimer’s Club said:
“Maintaining the physical and mental wellbeing of all our members is really important for us. For a long time now, the club has wanted to do more to help our members and thanks to the funding from County Councillor Jill Hood, we now can.”
Victoria Wilson, Cabinet Member for Culture and Communities at Staffordshire County Council, said:
“Staffordshire has always had a fantastic voluntary and community sector and supporting them remains a priority for the county council.”
“This is a wonderful project that’s making a real difference to people with Alzheimer’s and their family and carers. For most people, everyday tasks such as filling in a form or even getting a haircut is not a real issue but for those with Alzheimer’s this can be much more stressful. This project allows people to access these important activities and all in the place where they feel settled and comfortable.”
Lead volunteer Sandie McQueen has arranged for the clinics to be held in a room next to where the club meets at the Christ Church Centre in Stone. Sandie said:
“The volunteers are so pleased that the clinics are proving to be such a success and we are already seeing the positive impact of the clinics on the well-being of our members. We are all delighted with progress. Members have already approached me with ideas of how these clinics could work so it’s all very exciting.”
Through the Staffordshire County Council Community Fund, each County Councillor has up to £2,500 to allocate to community projects in their area. This current fund has now closed and details of future funds will be available on the webpage.