A care organisation has made a splash for cash in aid of a dementia charity that supports young people.
The merry band from Pendine Park, Wrexham, doused each other with buckets of ice-cold water to raise money for Young Dementia UK.
The charity supports people between the age of 30 and 60 with have been diagnosed with dementia and their families.
All the participants donated £5 to the cause and got recorded on video being drenched for it to be shared on social media.
Ann Farr, Centre Manager of Smartcare, the Wrexham-based training arm of the Pendine Park Care Organisation, who bravely volunteered to be soaked by the whole team, said: “That was fun – It’s not something I think I’d repeat though!
“I quite wasn’t prepared for the force of the water. It was very cold because it had just come out of the tap.
“There was a look of glee on their faces when they soaked me.
“I feel very proud of the team, and they’re all girls who don’t like having their makeup messed up.”
Ann and other members of the Pendine Park team are ambassadors for the Purple Angel campaign.
Its aim is to raise awareness with local shops and other businesses, providing them with a simple training manual so that they are better equipped to recognise the symptoms of dementia and respond accordingly.
The campaign was the brainchild of Alzheimer’s sufferer Norman McNamara from Torquay who was diagnosed six years ago.
Dementia is a common condition that affects about 800,000 people in the UK.
It is a syndrome associated with an on-going decline of the brain and its abilities. This includes problems with, memory loss, thinking speed, mental agility, language, understanding and judgement.
Ann added: “The money is going to Young Dementia UK. We were challenged to do this by Norman and he chose the charity.
“It’s not really viewed as a young people’s illness, but it affects young people too. There are people in their 30s who are being diagnosed.
“It’s about raising awareness as well as funds for the charity so they can do something to help them.
“The charity has also set up a website called dementiamentors.com where you can talk to people who have dementia.
“It helps because the people who have it understand the different stages.
“We all forget things so it can be hard for people to be diagnosed.
“It’s also about raising awareness in the community so people are aware of the needs of people with dementia.
“It can be very difficult to talk to your family and friends about it if you have dementia. They may not want to talk to their family about it but they’ll still want to talk to someone about how they feel.”
Joe Smith 80, a resident at Hillbury care home, which is part of Pendine Park care organisation, got in on the action by tipping a bucket of ice-cold water over Smartcare Diploma Assessor Natasha Shone.
He said: “I threw water over Natasha and I did enjoy it very much. It was a lot of fun. We get to do a lot of fun things here.”
Pendine Park Enrichment Project Leader Tracey Green also got involved.
Describing the experience of having a bucket of cold water being poured over her head by Ann, she said: “It was wet and cold, but it was a good laugh, and it’s all for a really good cause. The team here at Pendine Park have really got behind it. It was a good bit of team building.”
For more information about Young Dementia UK visit www.youngdementiauk.org and for more information about the Purple Angel dementia awareness campaign visit www.purpleangel.org.uk.
