The 100 Norwich businesses which have pledged to support people with dementia

PUBLISHED: 17:45 02 October 2019 | UPDATED: 15:22 08 October 2019

Bethany Wales

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

Norwich Airport now has a new service to Cornwall. Pic: Archant

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.

Hannah Springham and her husband Andrew Jones pictured at their restaurant, Farmyard, in Norwich which is a dementia friendly restaurant. Picture: ANTONY KELLY

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