Campaign to turn Wales into Europe's first dementia-friendly country

A campaign to turn Wales into Europe's first dementia-friendly country has been backed by a senior member of the Welsh Government who is urging the rest of Wales to sign up for the Purple Angel dementia awareness campaign.

Wrexham Assembly Member Lesley Griffiths, who is also Minister for Communities and Tackling Poverty, is urging the rest of Wales to sign up to the Purple Angel project launched in her home town last year.

Founded in 2012 by Torbay resident Norman McNamara after he was diagnosed with dementia, Purple Angel aims to raise awareness of the spread of dementia and help people to know how to respond to those living with the condition.

Already Denbigh and Caernarfon have followed Wrexham’s lead and Ms Griffiths said: “Dementia is a growing problem, particularly in the older population, and it needs to be treated with care, consideration and sympathy.

“We know dementia is increasing and clearly people’s awareness of it is as well - as the idea of the Purple Angel logo is that people can recognise those who have health issues.

“It’s good to see Wrexham leading the way in this area and I welcome the fact that other towns are joining this campaign and hope it grows to cover all of Wales so that those who suffer from dementia are treated with tolerance and respect.”

Wrexham MP, Ian Lucas, whose mother suffers from Alzheimer’s, is also a prominent supporter of the Purple Angel campaign.

He has urged businesses to sign up to the campaign and in Wales it has been promoted by Wrexham-based care organisation, Pendine Park.

Mr Lucas said: “Awareness of dementia is nowhere near as widespread as it needs to be and unless you have first-hand experience of what it is, as I do, then there is a great lack of understanding.

“If you haven’t seen what it’s like and how it presents itself then it can lead to misunderstanding and upset, but it is something we can do something about by making more people aware of what it is.

“That’s very important in areas such as hospitals and shops and for organisations such as the health service and the police where a misunderstanding of a person with dementia could lead to all kinds of difficulties.”

Anita Moran, Pendine Park’s activities and well-being co-ordinator, was the first person in Wales to become an ambassador for the Purple Angel campaign. She said: “We want to make sure that staff in shops are more aware, so if a customer is uncertain or hesitant then it could be that they have dementia and treat them with care and consideration.

“It’s just about taking that little bit of extra time with someone who seems a bit confused and the information we have can help staff in shops realise this. We also have stickers so people with dementia know that they will be treated considerately in that store.”

Caernarfon’s Galeri theatre and arts centre has been the first to adopt the Purple Angel stickers and Pendine Park’s specialist staff will carry out dementia-awareness training for shops and offices which can then display Purple Angel stickers and posters to show that staff understand possible problems and know how to respond.

The Welsh Government is expected to give its formal backing to the Purple Angel campaign later this year.