Sheffield fundraising appeal launched to support families with dementia during lockdown

Parson Cross Community Forum normally hosts three memory cafes a week, a weekly session for people with late-stage dementia, plus a lunch club and other groups.

Volunteers are still working hard to support families but a lot of the Forum's funding has dried up due to the coronavirus crisis and it needs to raise £1,000.

Leigh Bramall, one of the trustees, said: £The volunteers are doing brilliant work in difficult circumstances.

“They are picking up a lot of slack with people who have dementia in their homes, dropping off parcels and answering phone calls until 8pm at night.

“However, the forum is struggling to cope because they only have the same number of volunteers as normal.

“The NHS is wonderful but I am really concerned about social care as it tends to get overlooked. These volunteers are really filling a gap left during the lockdown.”

Louise Ashmore, one of the co-ordinators alongside Louise Askew, said: "We've been going on Zoom three times a week to keep a routine with carers and their loved ones, but not everybody has the technology or the know how to get online so we also ring about 100 people a week.

"We've been leaving activity packs on the doorstep of our memory cafe members and have dropped off about 30 packs so far with photos from the cafe, plants, word searches, scratch art and card games.

"We have a passion for helping people with dementia as it hits everybody in some shape or form and all the staff love what they do. Our members are like extended family.

"It’s hard on carers too, as they haven't been able to go out, they don’t have that peer support and it can be challenging trying to stop someone with dementia who wants to leave the house so we're a friendly face for them."

To support the fundraising, see justgiving.com/crowdfunding/ParsonCrossForumCovid-19appeal

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