Central England’s Ripley food store has become the first store in the society to be officially designated as Dementia Friendly.
Colleagues were joined by representatives from the Amber Valley Dementia Action Alliance to mark the special occasion and to support a special Alzheimer’s Society Community Roadshow as part of Dementia Awareness Week 2017 (14-20 May).
To be designated a Dementia Friendly store, staff were given specialist training to allow them to better help colleagues and customers affected by the condition. The store has also seen had signage put in place in order to remove confusion for anyone shopping who has dementia.
“Everyone involved is proud to have been able to support such a worthwhile project,” said Gavin Glidewell, store manager.
“All of us here in Ripley see being part of the community as extremely important and being able to help those with dementia when they need it is part of that.”
The society has been working with colleagues for the past year to offer special Dementia Friends awareness sessions to offer a greater understanding.
Tanya Noon, Central England community relations officer, said: “Dementia is an illness that is becoming more and more prevalent and as a Society we were determined to help in any way that we could.
“Anyone with dementia who now visits our Ripley food store will be able to get help and guidance from staff if they need it and enjoy an improved shopping experience thanks to specially created signage.
“We will also be using the store as a base to help train staff from across the society to become Dementia Friends.”
