Businesses become dementia friendly

Around 35 members of the south Wales business community have taken part in a dementia awareness training session at Pontnewydd Golf Club in Cwmbran. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

The session, organised by Torfaen Business Voice, aimed to help businesses recognise the signs of dementia, and understand how they can become more accessible to customers, and their own staff, who live with the condition. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

Torfaen is the second dementia county in Wales, with businesses in Blaenavon, Cwmbran and Pontypool coming forward to become ‘dementia friendly’. It is hoped that more businesses and traders will come on board in the future. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

Julia Smith from the Principality Building Society said: “We are a customer facing organisation with lots of elderly customers and we come across dementia a lot. I am looking forward to sharing this training with my team so that we can all be more aware of it and improve the service we offer to any of our customer who live with the condition.” ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

Felicity Burgess-Young from Belle-Dame Nails in Pontypool said: “This was a really useful session for us. We find that a surprising number of our customers have signs of dementia and it is good for us to understand the condition, and how we can make changes to the way we work to be more accommodating.” ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

For details on becoming a dementia friendly business contact phil.diamond@torfaen.gov.uk ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

For more details on Torfaen Business Voice visit www.southwalesbusiness.co.uk ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​