As part of getting our Becoming Dementia Friendly Certificate. We are looking at using an individuals church passport to show what our memories of favourite church related things and events, linking this with out local care homes. To produce a collage or similar to show our memories and connections between Queen Elizabeth II and King Charles III coronations - do you have memories that can be written down or photographs to help build this up and display at church.A prayer for people affected by Dementia Dementia Service 9th July 2023 and associated Lichfield Diocese blogFor more information on our Dementia-Friendly Church Network in the Diocese of Lichfield, covering Staffordshire, The Black Country & north Shropshire,contact Sarah ThorpeDementia-Friendly Church Enablersarah.thorpe@lichfield.anglican.org0798 224 8949
Wednesday 3rd April Morning Prayer cancelledSunday 7th April Holy Communion at 1000amWednesday 10th April Morning Prayer at 9.30am Sunday 14th AprilMorning Worship at 1000amWednesday 17th April Morning Prayer at 9.30am Sunday 21st AprilHoly Communion at 1000amWednesday 24th April Morning Prayer at 9.30am Sunday 28th AprilMorning Worship at 1000am followed by APCM
View this email in your browser Congratulations to Dementia-Friendly Newport for "highly commended" recognition of their impact, in the "Make a Difference Awards 2022" run by Shropshire Radio. Hilary Griffin, from St Andrew's Church, Church Aston, is holding the award here: she is involved with both dementia-friendly church and dementia-friendly community. Dementia-Friendly Churches Newsletter Transforming Church and Transforming Communities Together If you'd like to know more about our dementia-friendly churches network, here's our leaflet. If you'd like to know more about our dementia-friendly schools network, here's the link. Church and school connections Our dementia-friendly schools network launched this term and schools are signing up with actions to become more dementia-friendly. It's good to see both church schools and schools with a strong church connection getting involved. So far, we've been glad to give Certificates, signed by the Bishop of Lichfield, to four schools. This authorises them to use the “Becoming Dementia Friendly School” logo for this academic year. Later in this newsletter, you can see the actions signed up to by our first four schools to receive Dementia-Friendly School Certificates. Congratulations to: St Paul's CofE Primary School, Longton, Stoke; Bicton CofE Primary and Nursery, Shrewsbury; West Felton CofE School, Oswestry; and Dawley CofE Primary Academy, Telford. For our resource pack, giving you full information on our dementia-friendly schools network, click below: DEMENTIA-FRIENDLY SCHOOLS WEBSITE What is the aim of our dementia-friendly schools network? It's for schools that want dementia awareness to become part of school life, so that we name and face dementia together - that want to be schools which welcome, understand, respect, and support people affected by dementia – both someone with a diagnosis and their family/carers. The aim is for: ALL IN OUR SCHOOL COMMUNITY (pupils, staff, and families) to be aware of dementia and to understand how to stay in step as patterns change through advancing dementia; and ALL IN OUR SCHOOL COMMUNITY (pupils, staff, and families) affected by dementia to be welcomed, understood, respected, and supported. "Head to Heart" - resource for families living through dementia One of the things we are keen to do, across our network, is to support "carer" partners and families and friends, as patterns change through advancing dementia. As many know, my own involvement with dementia started with my father’s diagnosis, ten years before his death in 2018. As a family (after a long, Covid-delayed gestation!), we have just completed a video reflecting on our experiences and the things that helped us as my father’s dementia advanced. As part of our dementia-friendly churches network commitment to sharing the lived experience of dementia, we'll be sharing this at our first network meetings in 2023, as a resource for use in the network, possibly in Dementia Action Week, 16-23 May 2023. The link to this resource will be shared in this Newsletter after those meetings. The link allows people either to view the whole video, which is about half an hour long in total, or to view an individual short “chapter”, perhaps a 3-minute clip, as a free-standing section, which could be used to enable a group discussion. Some of us may plan to use this in Dementia Action Week. If it's helpful to know more now, do get in touch. Network meeting dates for January/February - connection, support and encouragement So these are the dates of our first network meetings in the new year - do get them in your diary and come along to share "Head to Heart" together, as well as our usual connection, support and encouragement. TUESDAY 31 JANUARY 2023 2-4:30pm Combined Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin Local Network Meeting IN PERSON at St Andrew's Church, Shifnal, TF11 9AB. WEDNESDAY 1 FEBRUARY 2023 1:30-3pm North Staffs Local Network Meeting ON ZOOM - https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85023231392?pwd=Wngwa2FXaGZkUzBpWWVBWE1IWjRFUT09 TUESDAY 7 FEBRUARY 2023 3-4:30pm South Staffs and Black Country Local Network Meeting (Wolverhampton / Walsall / Lichfield / Tamworth) ON ZOOM - https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81549588816?pwd=czV6N01YeVE3Um1SKzZGWGZiZlJidz09 Dementia-Friendly Church Certificates Congratulations to St Paul's and St Luke's Leek, St Edward the Confessor Cheddleton and St Margaret's Betley for signing up to new Certificates recently. And congratulations on renewals to All Saints Moxley and All Saints Darlaston, East Telford Benefice, St Martins, Border Parishes, St Nicholas Newport and St Michael and All Angels Chetwynd, Hadnall, Astley, Clive and Grinshall, Baschurch benefice and Christchurch Little Drayton. If you're one of the 90+ churches across the Diocese that's signed up for a Dementia-Friendly Churches Certificate, you'll be thinking about the actions that you are going to sign up to when it's time to renew your Certificate. And if you haven't yet got a Certificate, have a look at the actions further down this Newsletter - and see if there are three that feel possible for your church(es). None of us has to reinvent the wheel: why not use some ideas from actions included on recent Certificates, as listed below? Working together As always, I'm glad to work with anyone who is taking next steps towards becoming a more dementia-friendly church or a dementia-friendly school at the heart of a dementia-friendly community. Come along to a free Dementia-Friendly Church Introduction session, which is a 90 minute online session - the dates are later on in this Newsletter - or just get in touch! With warmest good wishes, Sarah Sarah Thorpe Dementia-Friendly Church Enabler Diocese of Lichfield sarah.thorpe@lichfileld.anglican.org 0798 224 8949 Coming together to make a difference: our October Dementia-Friendly Churches Shropshire Local Network Meeting Dementia-Friendly Churches Network meetings – all are welcome to come along! "HEAD TO HEART" A FAMILY RESOURCE TO EXPLORE AT OUR NEXT LOCAL NETWORK MEETINGS Our next round of network meetings will be focusing in the new "Head to Heart" resource and how it may help you with conversations locally. With our rolling programme of Network Meetings, you are welcome to come to the meeting that's for your area or the meeting that's at a time you can make - all are welcome to any meeting. Please do put your next local network meeting in your diary. TUESDAY 31 JANUARY 2023 2-4:30pm Combined Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin Local Network Meeting - IN PERSON at St Andrew's Church, Church Street, Shifnal, Shropshire, TF11 9AB – with parking on the road, by the church. WEDNESDAY 1 FEBRUARY 2023 1:30-3pm North Staffs Local Network Meeting On Zoom - TCT is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting. Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85023231392?pwd=Wngwa2FXaGZkUzBpWWVBWE1IWjRFUT09 Meeting ID: 850 2323 1392 Passcode: DFC TUESDAY 7 FEBRUARY 2023 3-4:30pm South Staffs and Black Country Local Network Meeting (Wolverhampton / Walsall / Lichfield / Tamworth) On Zoom. TCT is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting. Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81549588816?pwd=czV6N01YeVE3Um1SKzZGWGZiZlJidz09 Meeting ID: 815 4958 8816 Passcode: DFC Dementia Friendly Churches Introduction Getting started on dementia-friendly church? Or involving new people? Come along to a 90-minute online Dementia-Friendly Church Introduction session. The next sessions are on Tuesday 10 January 2023 2-3:30pm Wednesday 1 March 2023 4-5:30pm Tuesday 4 April 2023 11:30am-1pm Book your free place now. Also, if there's an opportunity to share a Dementia-Friendly Church Introduction session with your Deanery, please do get in touch and we can arrange a date for this. Book your free place here Dementia-Friendly School Certificates - Recent examples of actions... Here are the actions that have been signed up to by our first schools to receive Certificates: Planning and hosting a fundraiser to support the work of our local dementia charity, Approach. Visiting a care home specialising in dementia and delivering memory boxes to the residents. Leading a worship session to students, staff and parents raising awareness of dementia. Work with the local church to help develop awareness within our local community. Lead worship to inform school community about dementia. Develop links with [local] Nursing Home. Introduce dementia friendly school approach to staff. [Dementia specialist from the hospital] to run a dementia awareness day. Working alongside the local community to create fiddle mitts. Hold an initial staff meeting as an introduction for staff, to raise awareness on dementia. Hold an act of worship for the whole school, to raise awareness on dementia. Have leaflets for the community available in school and begin to use the “Becoming dementia friendly school” logo. Dementia-Friendly Church Certificates - Recent examples of actions... You may already have ideas about what your next Certificate actions are going to be... As you read some of the actions for the year ahead that churches have committed to recently, you may find you're gleaning new ideas for your own church... Name dementia regularly in our prayers in church. Have a regular “dementia-friendly church” item in our monthly newsletter. Hold a coffee morning with a dementia focus. Get copies of Wendy Mitchell’s two books, "Somebody I used to know" and "What I wish people knew about dementia", sharing her experience of living with dementia, to read and share, raising awareness about dementia and opening up conversations. Have a regular “dementia-friendly church” item in our magazine. Attend a Dementia-Friendly Church Introduction Session within the Diocese of Lichfield dementia-friendly churches network. Drawing on material shared at this session, hold a Sunday service with a dementia focus to raise awareness about dementia in our churches. Prepare and share a prayer card used to pray for people affected by dementia. Connect with our local schools on taking action on dementia – introducing them to the newly launched Diocesan Dementia-Friendly Schools Certificate: https://www.ldbe.co.uk/becoming-dementia-friendly-schools/ Hold a dementia-friendly service, using the “Boats & Staying Afloat” Diocese of Lichfield format, as an opportunity to make connections and offer accessible worship. Include the “Becoming dementia friendly church” logo in our notice sheet, with the words “[Our church] welcomes people living with dementia and their families/carers.” Raise awareness about dementia by sharing leaflets and literature about dementia, with books to borrow, including Wendy Mitchell’s books, "Somebody I used to know" and "What I wish people knew about dementia". Provide resources for use in church by people living with dementia, including fiddle muffs/blankets and picture books. Work towards having at least one person in each of our churches who has some awareness/training about dementia. Work towards having a named Dementia Coordinator/Champion in the Benefice, raising awareness of dementia in our churches amongst the wider church membership. Raise awareness of [;oca; c;ib for people affected by dementia] and what we do with external agencies and organisations. Hold a local event when we encourage our members to bring others to see and experience what we do, and to encourage others to ‘come and see’ and raise awareness in our own communities. Get copies of Wendy Mitchell’s two books, "Somebody I used to know" and "What I wish people knew about dementia", sharing her experience of living with dementia, to read and share in our churches. Focus on dementia in a Sunday service sermon, referring to Wendy Mitchell’s lived experience of dementia, to continue to raise awareness about dementia in our church. Make prayer cards for people affected by dementia, which people can take away and use. Preach a sermon with a dementia focus, drawing on Wendy Mitchell’s lived experience of dementia. Get copies of Wendy Mitchell’s two books, "Somebody I used to know" and "What I wish people knew about dementia", sharing her experience of living with dementia, to read and share with one another, raising awareness about dementia and opening up conversations Connect with our local schools on taking action on dementia – introducing them to the newly Diocesan Dementia-Friendly Schools Certificate launched this term: https://www.ldbe.co.uk/becoming-dementia-friendly-schools/ Put up a display in our churches that engages the senses and is accessible to people living with dementia, including information about what is available for people affected by dementia, and publicise this on social media, encouraging people to visit. In a Sunday service, have a dementia focus in the sermon, drawing on Wendy Mitchell’s lived experience of dementia. To purchase two copies of the recommended book God’s Not Forgotten Me: Experiencing Faith in Dementia', one for our community venue The Reading Room where we have an exchange library, and one to be kept in church. To have a dementia-focused Sunday service in May. To include a quotation, fact, or figure every two weeks on our pew sheets to keep dementia awareness on our radar – and, more importantly, to support people affected by dementia and their families/friends. To connect with our local schools on taking action on dementia – introducing them to the Diocesan Dementia-Friendly Schools network and Certificate newly launched this term: https://www.ldbe.co.uk/becoming-dementia-friendly-schools I wonder what you church's next actions on dementia are going to be... This video is a resource to open up conversations about dementia: it uses theatre to take a realistic look at dementia. Read more about it below... "The World Turn Upside Down" - Responses and their impact... Better days and worse days... What happened today, perhaps when a conversation went badly? Could a different response change things? "The World Turned Upside Down" is resource to open up questions and conversations about dementia. It's a film that explores the reality of living with dementia and caring for a person with dementia. The film is available on YouTube - you can watch it on the link above. It shares three things - a play, the process of creating it and the audience's reflections during the play. People affected by dementia have been involved in creating this play, looking at the experience of getting and sharing a diagnosis and of living with dementia. Before watching the film, you can download a screening pack created to accompany the film. This pack helps to guide the viewer, offering discussion questions around the different scenarios. Watching and sharing the film with the screening pack is a great learning resource, a tool that can be used within groups to discuss some of the key issues explored in the film. Blessing I've recently come across a beautiful blessing by Irish poet and philosopher John O’Donohue. It is addressed to John's mother, Josie. Although I don't know more of her story, it is a blessing that could be shared with someone living with dementia. Here's an extract - and the word "currach" means a coracle, or a small round boat made of wickerwork covered with a watertight material, that's paddled along. When the canvas frays in the currach of thought and a stain of ocean blackens beneath you, may there come across the waters a path of yellow moonlight to bring you safely home. May the nourishment of the earth be yours, may the clarity of light be yours, may the fluency of the ocean be yours, may the protection of the ancestors be yours. You can read. the full blessing here Transforming Communities Together - we don't have to go it alone! Do you want to know more about Places of Welcome? In your church, are you focused on mental health/wellbeing and enabling all, building churches where people of ALL abilities are celebrated, empowered and valued? If you’d like to take next steps in your local church and community in any of these areas, you can find out more here - scroll down to the bottom if you'd like to sign up to receive a regular Newsletter. Alternatively, just get in touch with me and I can point you in the right direction! Information and Helplines - and donations... There’s nationally available support and information – and donations are important, to support these frontline services. Alzheimer's Society Campaigning for change, funding research to find a cure and supporting people living with dementia today Dementia Connect Support Line: 0333 150 3456 Talking Point: On-line community – free access any time, day or night Dementia Carers Count Supporting family and friends caring for someone with dementia - including with free courses and resources Dementia UK Offering specialist support for families through the Admiral Nurse service Helpline: 0800 888 6678 Age UK Helping older people when they need it most Helpline 0800 169 8787 Copyright © 2022 Dementia-Friendly Churches, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you asked/agreed to receive dementia-friendly churches Newsletters from the Diocese of Lichfield. Our mailing address is: Dementia-Friendly Churches St Mary's House The Close Lichfield, Staffordshire WS13 7LD United Kingdom Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? 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