The 4RDA Blog
A Busy February With Parish Councils
24/2/2025
The past month has been quite a busy one!• The Four Rivers AGM took place on Monday 3rd February at which, I gave a short presentation about my role, what I have been working on to date and the various types of support that I can offer to parish and town councils and other organisations in the Four Rivers area.
• I attended Shaugh Prior’s parish council meeting (05/02/25) and agreed to follow up after they have considered working towards becoming dementia friendly at their next meeting. At the suggestion of the councillors, I wrote a piece for the March parish magazine to let people know about the work of Four Rivers and also Dementia Friendly Parishes Around the Yealm. It has been agreed that I will contribute articles on a quarterly basis to the magazine. I have also arranged to visit a local resident in early March to provide advice and information about support available after a dementia diagnosis.
• Building on some previous work done, I met with Cllr Guy Pannell and Susanne Archard again in South Brent (11/02/25) to discuss lending some more support to the village to become dementia friendly. This initially included liaising with signage companies to obtain quotes for the creation of dementia friendly signage for the village, which Cllr Pannell will take for discussion at a forthcoming parish council meeting. Other types of support for the future were also discussed at the meeting.
• I attended Ugborough Parish Council’s meeting (12/02/25) and agreed to follow up after they have considered working towards becoming dementia friendly at their next meeting.
Other parish council meetings booked:
• I had planned to attend Ringmore Parish Council's meeting (18/02/25) but they requested that I attend their March meeting instead.
• Ivybridge (17/03/25)-I have been invited to attend their annual town meeting on with an information stand and the opportunity to talk to residents and councillors about the work of Four Rivers and Dementia Friendly Parishes Around the Yealm.
• Kingston (20/03/25)
• I had planned to attend Bickleigh Parish Council meeting (27/02/25) but this has been rescheduled to 27/03/25.
• Harford (07/05/23)
• Modbury-I heard back from the chair and at the moment they do not have a date arranged for a meeting of the dementia friendly working group they are planning as they are still currently in the process of organising and recruiting members.
• Following my attendance at Rattery Parish Council’ meeting in January, I have been advised that they were unfortunately unable to consider working towards becoming dementia friendly at their February meeting so it is on the agenda for their March one.
• I have continued with researching community groups, businesses, schools, churches and other organisations to approach to offer support to become dementia friendly in the various parish areas.
Progress to Date with Parish and Town Councils
28/1/2025
Just to keep you up to date with everything that is happening with my new role. We are still preparing the ground work but interest in what we are trying to achieve is growing from communicating with the parish councils in the 4RDA area.• Attended Rattery PC meeting (14/01/25) and agreed to follow up after they have considered it at their February meeting.
• Other parish council meetings booked:
Shaugh Prior (05/02/25)
Ugborough (12/02/25)
Ringmore (18/02/25)
Bickleigh (27/02/25 TBC)
Kingston (20/03/25)
Harford (07/05/23)
• Ivybridge -I have been invited to attend their annual town meeting on 17/03/25 to talk to residents and councillors about how the town can improve it’s work towards being dementia friendly.
• Modbury-I am waiting to hear back from the chair re: a date to attend a meeting of the dementia friendly working group they are planning.
• South Brent- I have previously supported Susanne Archard and Cllr Guy Pannell with a walk round of the village and advice on dementia friendly signage which a neighbourhood officer has now agreed and will be working on the design of. Currently awaiting a date for a meeting with Susanne to discuss lending some more support to South Brent to become dementia friendly.
• I have started researching community groups, businesses, schools, churches and other organisations to approach to offer support to become dementia friendly in the various parish areas.
• In a similar vein to the information pack for parish councils, I plan to work on developing some guides for other organisations wanting to work towards becoming dementia friendly e.g. retailers, churches, community groups, GP surgeries, schools etc and possibly develop window stickers/certificates for them.
Starting the Role of Community Liaison and Support Lead
1/1/2025
In the first few weeks as Community Support and Liaison Lead, I have been busy working on a few "building blocks" to progress forward from. This has included developing an information pack for parish and town councils which outlines what 4RDA does, what inclusive rural dementia friendly communities are, why being dementia friendly is important, the benefits to parish councils and communities of joining 4RDA and a suggested action plan to work through. Additionally, I have worked on a draft policy (lone working) and it's accompanying risk assessment.
I have also contacted a number of the parish councils to request to speak at a council meeting about the work of 4RDA and to encourage them to get involved. I currently have a few arranged in the next few weeks and I will be leaving the information pack with each of the parish councils to help support them.
Other tasks I have undertaken during this period as the representative of 4RDA has been to attend an initial meeting to discuss a Dementia Alliance website with a variety of other professionals working across Devon as part of the work towards a fledgling Devon Dementia strategy. This took place on 26/11/24.
I also attended the District-Wide Caring Alliance meeting and gave an update on the current project work being undertaken by 4RDA. this took place on 03/12/2024.
