On the 25th of May two Champions (Heidi and Ger) from the hub went along to the Positive Dementia group in Elgin, these are their combined reflections. If you want to know more about the group or Alzheimer Scotland services contact Wendy on 01343 552080.
Wendy Menzies from Alzhimer Scotland invited us along to chat about WRAP (Wellness Recovery Action Planning) and our other peer-led training, with their Positive Dementia Group.
This was a very warm and friendly group of people, some who have their own experience of dementia and others who love, support and care about them. Wendy is clearly much more than a worker to the group, as she too made us feel very welcome in our role as peers who have faced our own challenges and are keen to reach out to those with experience around dementia. Really we should have expected this as any group with the word ‘Positive’ in their title is definitely our kind of group!
We started with Heidi explaining about the Moray Wellbeing Hub and what we are about. Although it was a small group, it became evident that people there related to and understood the ethos of the Moray Wellbeing Hub and were interested in looking into how it would assist and benefit their own group/situation. The group agreed to have further discussions themselves and look at how it might work for them, and we left them contact details and leaflets.
The discussion took place without labelling or singling out anyone or any group at all, which is one of the things I really like about the Hub, it values and accepts each individual experience in a respectful, non-judgemental and caring way.
This was one of my first “ventures” out with the group. I wasn’t confident about speaking out but I did EVENTUALLY find my tongue with some prompting of course!!!
Later Wendy fed back by email to say, “The group really enjoyed your input and would like me to arrange a taster session sometime.”
We look forward to going back to the group soon and sharing some of the tools that help support our own wellbeing.
