DEMENTIA projects across Scotland have received funding to enable them to offer community-based support for people affected by the disease.
The About Dementia, Age Scotland and Scottish Government partnership fund awarded a grant worth £145,921 to the successful 14 groups through the "Encouraging and Supporting Grassroots Activity Fund" which is part of a larger £1 million investment by the Scottish Government.
Some of the recipients of the money include The Forget Me Notes Project in Edinburgh, Caraidean Uibhist in the Outer Hebrides, Lingo Flamingo in Glasgow and the British Deaf Association Scotland.
These projects will offer a range of activities to support people living with dementia and their families.
More than 70 applications were received, requesting a total of more than £1 million, and applicants were assessed by About Dementia staff alongside a "lived experience panel", consisting of people living with dementia and unpaid carers, who were also heavily involved in shaping and co-producing the fund criteria and assessment process.
Lingo Flamingo, one of the fund recipients, is a Shawlands-based organisation which promotes cognitive health by providing accessible language learning services.
Its director, Robbie Norval, said: “Lingo Flamingo is delighted to obtain grant funding through the encouraging and supporting grassroots activity fund facilitated by Age Scotland.
“The funding will allow us to provide meaningful and engaging activities for older adults living with dementia withing care home settings. We are really excited to be able to work in conjunction with participants living with dementia co-producing services and learning from one another.
“It will be a fantastic, uplifting and empowering project.”
The aim of the investment is to support the growth of dementia friendly communities and meeting centres across Scotland and will be led by Age Scotland’s About Dementia project.
Kainde Manji, head of dementia at Age Scotland, said: “We are thrilled to be awarding grants to these 14 organisations. Our panel were hugely impressed by the diversity of applications received and the range of activities on offer.
“The popularity of this fund underlines yet again the importance of the work taking place at a grassroots community level to support people living with dementia where they are. This work is vital in enabling people to live well following a diagnosis, and in tackling social isolation.
“However, we know this doesn’t come about by accident. Community organisations across Scotland are facing huge challenges, from the cost of food and heating, to the loss of local government funding.
“The new dementia strategy is a huge opportunity to shore up support for these irreplaceable community assets, and we are delighted to be playing a small part in delivering on this.”
The 14 successfully funded projects are:
- St Madoes and Kinfauns Parish Church: The Madoch Centre, Perthshire
- An Talla Solais (Ullapool Visual Arts), Ullapool
- Sharing A Story, East Lothian
- Lingo Flamingo, Scotland-wide
- British Deaf Association Scotland, Scotland-wide
- Yoker Resource Centre, Glasgow
- Recovery Enterprises Scotland, East-Ayrshire
- Caraidean Uibhist, Southern Isles of the Outer Hebrides
- Nomad Beat, Scottish Borders
- Harlawhill Day Care Centre, East Lothian
- Mearns Kirk Helping Hands, East Renfrewshire
- LifeCare Edinburgh, North Edinburgh
- St Andrews Dementia Hub, South Lanarkshire
- The Forget Me Notes Project, Edinburgh
Applications for the next stage of the fund are now open, which will support the development of five meeting centres across Scotland.
Five awards of £10,000 are available and the fund closes on December 2022.
