Sparkling effort for dementia sufferers

Cheerleading pom poms and musical instruments are just some of the new equipment helping to engage people with dementia at a Worthing care home.
Lavender Lodge activities co-ordinator Wendy Bray, centre, with residents Joy Cooper, 89, left, and Joan Farion, 84. Picture Liz Pearce LP170581Lavender Lodge activities co-ordinator Wendy Bray, centre, with residents Joy Cooper, 89, left, and Joan Farion, 84. Picture Liz Pearce LP170581
Lavender Lodge activities co-ordinator Wendy Bray, centre, with residents Joy Cooper, 89, left, and Joan Farion, 84. Picture Liz Pearce LP170581

Activities co-ordinator Wendy Bray raised £269.80 at a Pamper and Sparkle evening at the Marquis of Granby pub in Sompting.

Wendy was named Employee of the Month for July at Lavender Lodge, in Mill Road, Worthing.

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She said: “It was the first time I have ever organised anything like this and I was so nervous. I worked so hard and shed actual blood, sweat and tears over this event.

“I felt like a kid at Christmas when some of our equipment arrived last week. We now have a large whiteboard easel for playing memory and word games, several percussion instruments to use with sing-a-longs and cheerleading pom poms to make armchair zumba more fun.

“We’ve got puzzles and a plasma ball that can be taken to individual rooms for one-to-one sessions with our less-mobile residents and because I did so well, the home is also investing in a couple of iPads for residents.

“This equipment has already made sessions more fun and engaging for residents. We’ve played several games of Hangman with almost everyone in the room calling out guesses and they almost exhausted me with their enthusiasm over pom poms and maracas when I played some calypso music.”

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Wendy has been in the role for six months and was recognised for ‘bringing love, glitter and sparkle to the home, loved by everyone and being an important part of the team’.

She will be running a Christmas Pamper and Shopping event in November and hopes to double the funds raised. Contact Wendy at Lavender Lodge on 01903 249252 for more information.

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