St Edmundsbury Cathedral to mark Dementia-Friendly Sunday

Dementia-friendly Sunday is to be marked this coming Sunday, May 14, at  St Edmundsbury Cathedral at its 10.30am service.

There are currently over 850,000 people with dementia in the UK and this number is projected to increase.

The cathedral is evolving to ensure it meets the needs of this vulnerable group. The date has been chosen to coincide with the Alzheimer’s Society’s Dementia Awareness Week, which runs from May 15 to 21.  

The service will highlight Memory Boxes which can be created using small items such as old toys, old kitchen utensils as well as images, or newspaper cuttings of popular culture and events, specific to any historical period.

Memory boxes prompt conversations in a relaxed setting, where the person can be encouraged to connect in their own time or to move on to other more meaningful items. They are part of Reminiscence Therapy and can be created with a person in the early stages of dementia.

The cathedral marked Dementia-Friendly Sunday for the first time in May 2022 and has continued working towards being a more dementia-friendly place in the year that’s followed.

To help the cathedral become a better place to visit for those living with dementia, a working group has been formed.

In the past 12 months they have consulted on projects to ensure inclusivity. New signage has been installed across the site that is dementia friendly and a list of small improvements have taken place, like new welcome mats to ensure comfort and safety.  Dementia awareness training has also been provided for cathedral staff and volunteers.

Rev Canon Matthew Vernon, Canon Pastor and Sub-Dean at St Edmundsbury Cathedral, who leads on the Dementia-Friendly project, said: “We are an inclusive cathedral, which means we believe all people are created equal by God and we aim to welcome and treat all people fairly, irrespective of age, disability, gender, race, sexual orientation, religion or belief. Our work on becoming more dementia-friendly is an important part of being welcoming to all. What might seem like small changes to us, like adding icons to signs, makes a big difference to those living with dementia and we will continue to create a space at the cathedral for everyone.”