Apprentices from Kier North Tyneside are this week undergoing training to become Dementia Friends, working alongside Kier’s corporate charity partner Alzheimer’s Society to create better dementia-friendly communities in the local area.
The first 16 apprentices to take part in the initiative come from a range of professions, including plumbing, plastering and business administration, and will be completing their Dementia Friends training alongside their apprenticeship.
The training will teach them about what it’s like to live with dementia, and encourage them to turn their training into action. The sessions are provided by existing Dementia Friends and following the training, the apprentices will have all the skills needed to raise awareness of dementia in the community and run information sessions themselves.
Mike Furze, Kier regional director, said: “I’m extremely proud that we’re providing this important Dementia Friends training to our apprentices and their enthusiasm to take part is fantastic.
“As our corporate charity partner we’re looking to support the Alzheimer’s Society at every opportunity and this initiative not only does that, but it also gives our apprentices the opportunity to learn about dementia and make them more aware of the challenges it brings in the community as well as within families.”
Anthony Howe, North Tyneside Council project support officer said: “Dementia is something that can affect us all, we may have a member of our family living with dementia or know someone else who is affected by dementia.
“By learning more about dementia we can support those who are living with dementia to live better lives, it is import for this programme to continue to grow and together we can help the Alzheimer’s Society reach their target of 4 million Dementia Friends by 2020 as well as helping to create dementia friendly communities. The more people that know about dementia the easier it will become to reduce the fear and stigma attached to dementia.”
The apprentice training session comes after the initiative was piloted with a number of Kier North Tyneside employees and following this success, it is now being rolled out to become part of Kier apprentice’s training.
Kier selected the Alzheimer’s Society as its corporate charity partner last year, committing to raising enough money to fund 6,500 Dementia Support Worker hours over the next two years as well as increasing awareness of dementia throughout the business.
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