EMPLOYEES at Marks & Spencer Thurrock today (19 August 2015) welcomed local dementia support groups into store to enjoy a special Dementia Friends shopping morning.
The event, which was attended by Age Concern, Peaceful Place and Thurrock Forget Me Nots and was held to raise awareness of the challenges that people living with dementia face in the retail environment.
M&S works closely with the Alzheimer’s Society and last year empowered all 65,000 retail colleagues to become a Dementia Friend.
Over the next year, M&S is taking this pledge one step further and aims to train a Dementia Champion in every store. Store Champions will learn what it’s like to live with dementia and then turn that understanding into action; from recognising and helping someone showing symptoms of dementia while shopping, to driving awareness of dementia in the local community.
At the event today, local representatives from the Alzheimer’s Society Grays & Thurrock and M&S Thurrock’s Dementia Friends Champion, Elaine Sharpe, held short talks with the attendees about what retailers can do to improve the shopping experience for those living with the condition.
The M&S Company Archive, which is based at the University of Leeds and houses over 70,000 items charting the retailer’s 130 year history, also attended the event to demonstrate how reminiscence therapy and sharing memories can be a sociable and enjoyable activity for those with dementia. The Archive’s Reminiscence Packs, which feature handpicked items specifically chosen to inspire people’s interests and spark memories, were on display for guests to engage with.
Elaine Sharpe, M&S Thurrock’s Dementia Friend Champion, said: “Around a quarter of all people living with dementia feel that they can no longer go shopping, despite it being one of
the activities they enjoy most. We want to do something to change that by ensuring that all of our customers feel comfortable shopping with us, and help provide a dementia friendly high street. Our Dementia Champions drives our Dementia Friends programme in-store, offering
fantastic support to our customers, from helping them out with finding specific items to greeting them with a friendly, welcoming face when they’re shopping with us.
“We were delighted to be able to meet with groups such as Age Concern and Peaceful Place to hear about the experiences of their members and share details of some of the initiatives we’re undertaking to make M&S a welcoming environment for them. As a store, we are proud to say we are dementia friendly.”
Gemma Tomsett, Dementia Support Manager at Alzheimer’s Society Grays & Thurrock, said: “By opening their doors to the support groups, and encouraging their employees to learn more about how they can become dementia friendly, M&S Thurrock is a leading example of how Alzheimer’s Society believes organisations should approach supporting people with dementia. Dementia Friends learn more about what it is like to live with dementia and turn that understanding into action. Alzheimer’s Society is aiming to have four million Dementia Friends by 2020, to help make England more dementia friendly and improve the lives of the 670,000 people currently living with the condition.”
The Archive’s Reminiscence Packs are now available to loan to anyone interested in running their own reminiscence session or activity. The reminiscence packs contain a selection of historical items based on two themes – ‘What We Wore’ and ‘Childhood’. The packs contain great resources for older people’s groups, care home residents or other community groups. As well as exploring the physical items, groups can also access image-based reminiscence packs online. Featuring colourful images of M&S favourites, the packs can be printed off to use at home and are a useful aid to stimulate memories. If you would like to borrow one of the packs, please contact the Archive team on 0208 718 2800 or email [email protected], or visit https://marksintime.marksandspencer.com/home.
