Listen
July 2024 – Connect Toru
Kia ora and welcome to our third pānui/newsletter of 2024.
With the shortest day now behind us and the appearance of Matariki marking the Māori New Year, it’s a time to spend with whānau and friends, to remember those who have passed, celebrate the present and to plan for the future. I do hope your Matariki celebrations, however big or small, were enjoyable. If you would like to learn more about Matariki and watch an engaging presentation by Dr Rangi Matamua, I recommend this website matariki.twoa.ac.nz
Currently, Dementia Wellington has contact with over 1,000 carers and supporters of people with mate wareware dementia; these are people who may be a member of a supporter group, going to Cog cafes, attending our Let’s Talk about Dementia seminars or keeping updated by reading the monthly email from their Dementia Advisor. The team at Dementia Wellington understand that it can be difficult for many carers to enjoy a break, so we started running Carers Big Day Out. The first was held at Paraparaumu Beach Golf Club in September 2023 and we have just held a day at the Boulcott’s Farm Golf Club in May – see below for details and feedback from the day.
Earlier in June we celebrated Volunteers Awareness Week (June 16-22). This is a week to pause and acknowledge the contribution of the volunteers who support our work. We are progressively growing our team of volunteers and currently have 20 people offering their time, expertise and enthusiasm to help us deliver the full range of our services. See more information about our Big Volunteer Shoutout below.
I hope you enjoy this pānui. Please do reach out to me with any feedback and ideas for anything you would like included for future editions.
Happy reading!
Ngā mihi mahana
Anne Schumacher, Chief Executive
Carers’ Big Day Out
On Tuesday, 28 May we welcomed 25 carers and supporters and 11 people with mate wareware dementia for a relaxing and restorative day at the Boulcott’s Farm Golf Club. The programme included breaking into groups to share Top Tips (now here on our website) for self-care, plus there were short presentations from a few speakers and plenty of time for chatting over lunch, morning and afternoon tea. It was a sunny day so many people enjoyed putting practise on the green at the Club during the lunch break.
The next Kāpiti Big Day Out is booked for Wednesday, 30 October at the Paraparaumu Beach Golf Club – save the date!
This is some feedback from the day:
Thank you volunteers
This year, we have focused on growing our volunteer base to support our mahi, in particular, having volunteers supporting the Dementia Advisors at the Cog cafes and the Active Brain and Connection Groups throughout the region. We are very grateful to our team of volunteers; we appreciate their commitment to supporting us to achieve our vision that people living with mate wareware dementia live their best possible lives.
During Volunteer Awareness Week we organised a special day to thank the volunteer team. During the day we shared information about: Health and Safety, Privacy and Confidentiality, and learning more about mate wareware dementia. There was also a delicious morning tea and lunch. The Kāpiti volunteers made a special effort to come to the Hutt Hub and meet the Wellington/Hutt team and we were also joined by the Volunteer Hutt Branch Manager, Marcia Skinnon and our Board Member Kathryn McCarrison.
Alvy Parsad, our volunteer administrator can be contacted on volunteer@dementiawellington.org.nz if you have any questions about volunteering for us.
Let’s Talk about Dementia
Dementia Wellington runs regular ‘Let’s Talk about Dementia’ seminars around Wellington. These consist of five weekly sessions lasting 1.5 hours that are led by Sheena Farquhar, our Educator. Many topics are covered including understanding changes in behaviour and staying engaged and connected.
The next Let’s Talk about Dementia will be in Wellington at the Lifepoint Church in Hopper Street on Mondays, from 16 September to 14 October, from 1-2:30pm. For more information regarding Wellingtons seminars please click here.
To register email Tina@dementiawellington.org.nz
Let’s Talk about Dementia will be at Waikanae Baptist Church, 286 Te Moana Road, Waikanae from 01 to 29 October, on Tuesdays from 10-11:30am. For more information regarding Waikanae seminars please click here.
To register email Jackie@dementiawellington.org.nz
Let’s Talk about Dementia will be at the Petone Community House in November, details in the next pānui.
Registration for these sessions is required so please contact your local Dementia Advisor, or if you have any queries email admin@dementiawellington.org.nz.
You can attend a session in any location across the Wellington Region.
Learning about mate wareware/dementia seminars
We welcome any initiative to raise funds and awareness of our services, if you have a great idea please do get in touch, we are happy to provide support and publicise any activity to support our services.
On that note our annual Quiz fundraiser will take places at the Sprig and Fern in Petone on Tuesday nights at 7pm, starting in September. There are a number of ways to support this fundraiser:
– Bring a long a team during September
– Donating prizes for the raffle
If you’re interested in donating prizes for the raffle please contact admin@dementiawellington.org.nz
How are we doing?
Can you help us improve our services?
We are keen to hear:
– what would you like more of?
– how are we doing?
– what can we do better?
The easiest way to provide feedback by using this very short form, it will only take a couple to minutes to complete https://forms.office.com/r/5Ex9XY2137, and remember, if you want a response from us you will need to enter your name and contact details.
Alternatively, feel free to email me directly anne@dementiawellington.org.nz.
I will look forward to hearing from you and thank you in advance for your feedback and suggestions.
