The 100 Norwich businesses which have pledged to support people with dementia
PUBLISHED: 17:45 02 October 2019 | UPDATED: 15:22 08 October 2019

A dementia friendly day at The King's Centre had over 30 stalls giving advice to those with dementia and their carers. Photo: Archant
Copyright Archant Norfolk 2015
A campaign to open up the city to people with dementia has hit a major milestone, with 100 businesses pledging to support those living with the condition.

An estimated 16,400 people in Norfolk have dementia, and the Norwich Dementia Action Alliance has been campaigning to improve their experience in shops, cinemas, banks, churches and restaurants since January 2017.
So far more than 100 businesses and organisations have signed up to the alliance, and completed training on how to support customers with dementia and their families.
Members make at least three pledges in order to sign up, and so far those have included a number of initiatives, including cinemas and theatres hosting dementia-friendly sessions,the introduction of a "buddies" system where people with dementia can take part in activities such as football, dementia signage and dementia-friendly surveys of front-facing areas and working with transport organisations to introduce a card system, with information such as the nearest stop to home and an emergency number.
Helen Burgess, who works for dementia support charity Age Space, said small changes make a big difference.

She said: "People with dementia can become very closed off because everything is frightening. This makes it difficult for partners and family members, but it can make a difference knowing there are places they can go where they won't be frowned upon if a person acts unusually."
Norwich airport is one of the businesses signed up, and has committed to making the check in and security journey more manageable by fast tracking travellers with the condition past the noise and crowds to their flight.
Ms Burgess said that often, seemingly innocuous things could trigger fear in those living with dementia, and that tasks such as helping someone with the condition catch a flight could be as stressful as looking after a child in the same situation.
She said: "If you walk in and there's a large black doormat, it can look like a hole for someone with dementia and make it hard to even get over the threshold. For family members this can make simple outings very stressful."
100 Dementia Friendly Norwich members
1. Active Norfolk
2. Adult Day Care Ltd
3. Age Space
4. Age UK Across Norfolk (Trading) Ltd
5. Age UK Norwich
6. Alzheimer's Society (Great Yarmouth)
7. Andrew Frederick Adult Support
8. Archant
9. Arthur Jary & Sons
10. Aviva
11. Broadland Chess Club
12. Castle Mall Shopping Centre
13. Castlemeadow
14. Cathedral of St John the Baptist Trust
15. Chaplin Farrant
16. Cinema City Norwich
17. City College Norwich
18. Clapham & Collinge Solicitors
19. Community Action Norwich
20. Content Connective
21. Cotman Housing Association
22. Cozens-Hardy LLP
23. Dance to Health
24. Deaf Connexions
25. Department for Work and Pensions
26. Digital Phone Company Ltd
27. Doughty's (Norwich Consolidated Charities)
28. Driving Miss Daisy - Norwich South
29. East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust
30. East of England Coop
31. Eaton Dementia Friends
32. Enterprise Taxis
33. Exercising People In Communities (EPIC) Norfolk Ltd
34. Farmyard Restaurant, Norwich / The Dial House, Reepham
35. Flagship Group
36. Fosters
37. Friend in Deed
38. Global Diagnostics Limited
39. Greater Anglia
40. Hamson Barron Smith
41. Healthwatch Norfolk
42. Heritage Will Writers
43. Home Instead Senior Care
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44. Howes Percival LLP
45. Independence Matters CIC
46. intu Chapelfield
47. Jarrold
48. John Lewis Norwich
49. Marion Day Care & Dementia Centre
50. Masonic Lodge
51. Middletons Steakhouse & Grill
52. Nelson's Journey
53. NHS Norwich Clinical Commissioning Group
54. Norfolk & Norwich Festival Trust
55. Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
56. Norfolk and Suffolk Care Support Ltd
57. Norfolk Community Foundation
58. Norfolk Constabulary, Norwich
59. Norfolk Deaf Association (NDA)
60. Norfolk Freemasons
61. Norfolk Museums Service
62. Norfolk Wealth Management
63. Norse Transport
64. NorseCare
65. Nortax Taxis
66. Norwich Airport
67. Norwich and Broadland Living Well Team
68. Norwich Business Improvement District
69. Norwich Cathedral
70. Norwich City Community Sports Foundation
71. Norwich City Council
72. Norwich Door to Door
73. Norwich Older People's Forum
74. Norwich Playhouse
75. Norwich Pride
76. Norwich Research Park
77. Norwich School
78. Norwich Theatre Royal
79. Nuffield Health Norwich
80. OPEN Youth Trust
81. Places for People - Riverside Leisure Centre
82. Rainbow Wholefoods
83. ReAssure
84. Rogers & Norton Solicitors
85. Rotary Club of Norwich
86. Slow Theatre Company
87. Sportspark
88. Sprowston Dementia Friendly Community
89. The Assembly House
90. The Forum Trust
91. The Memory Joggers
92. The Millennium Library
93. The Oaks Friendship Group
94. The School House CIC
95. Thorpe St Andrew Town Council
96. Trust
97. University of East Anglia (UEA)
98. Virgin Money Norwich
99. Wensum Valley Medical Practice
100. Yare Valley Churches