GTFC - Dementia Friendly Football Club

Evening all,

Sorry this is fairly long one but I just had an idea I really wanted to put forwards...

More people than ever before are living with a form of dementia and with an ageing population that number is only set to increase. There can't be many families that haven't either been affected, or know of somebody who has been affected by what is a cruel, progressive disease. I’m sure there are people on here who know somebody living with dementia. According to the Alzheimer’s Society there are 850,000 people in the UK that are currently living with a form of dementia, with that set to rise over 1 Million by 2025 and 2 Million by 2051. 225,000 people will develop dementia this year – 1 every 3 minutes. That makes it extremely likely that a significant number of those affected will be football fans.

With talk on here and on twitter recently about the way the club engages with existing fans and the wider community, today I started noting down some ideas I’d had for way in which that could be improved, however, there was one that struck in in particular after I wrote it down and that was that Grimsby Town should become a Dementia Friendly club - possibly the first in the country.

My proposal would be for the club/trust to work with local Health and Social Care providers, Charities and people living with dementia/their families to set up a ‘Dementia Friendly Zone’ at Blundell Park, this would be an unsegregated area for home and away fans living with a form of dementia, any carers they need and any friends or relatives they wish to attend with them. Admission would be free to the person living with Dementia and any carers they require to have with them, with heavily discounted or even free tickets for a set number of friends/family they wish to have with them (maybe up to 2 or 3) and there would also be some form of subsidised transport for home fans who have Dementia that are living with in Grimsby and Cleethorpes to make it easier for them to get to and from games and encourage them to take the opportunity to attend.

If this was implemented, not only would it allow those living with dementia to continue to watch their football club play in a safe, friendly and supportive place – research shows that things like this could have several benefits for both the physical, mental and emotional health of a person living with dementia.

According to the Alzheimer’s society, reminiscing about sport can help people with dementia revisit vivid memories – watching and participating in sport is shown to have similar effects. Equally as importantly, it would allow somebody living with dementia to socialise and experience something different with people who are living with the same illness, helping to prevent institutionalisation of those requiring long term care – important opportunities they may otherwise miss out on.  

Having spent time on work experience in a care home, I’ve seen first-hand how dementia affects people and their families. I’ve also seen how social stimulation, taking part in activities and reminiscing can have a fantastic effect on somebody living with dementia and while it sadly can’t cure them, things like the idea I've suggested does seem to cause an improving in the symptoms a person shows and greatly benefits their overall wellbeing and emotional health, even causing them to revisit memories they may not otherwise have been able to.  
I saw the end of ‘Our Dementia Choir with Vicky McClure’ last night and I believe watching and reminiscing about football could have similar effects and benefits to people as joining the Dementia Choir was shown to have. (If anybody hasn’t seen it I’d recommend they watch it as it gives fantastic insight into why its so important to support people living with dementia).

As a football club, I believe Grimsby Town should be a central part of the community and being able to support fans living with dementia and their families would be a fantastic way for the club to make itself part of the community and possibly even be pioneers of a new scheme in English football.

Obviously, this is just an idea for now and I was just wanting to know what people thought? I’m sure it’d only need minimal investment, maybe £1000, £2000 at most but if the club weren't willing to or weren’t in a position to subsidise it, if required, would people be willing to make a small donation on a crowd funder to help make it happen. Maybe it’s something the SLO or Mariners Trust could look in to, even just to trial for a season.

I've read stuff suggesting sport can be a really effective method of engaging people with demntia. I'm sure I heard some really moving piece on Radio 5 about a Welsh family who took their dementia suffering father to a rugby match at the Millennium Stadium. He barely knew his own name but came to life in the ground, belted out the national anthem etc. Sounds a great idea and would happily donate if funds needes to be raised.

Quoted from MarinersOnTheUp

Evening all,

Sorry this is fairly long one but I just had an idea I really wanted to put forwards...

More people than ever before are living with a form of dementia and with an ageing population that number is only set to increase. There can't be many families that haven't either been affected, or know of somebody who has been affected by what is a cruel, progressive disease. I’m sure there are people on here who know somebody living with dementia. According to the Alzheimer’s Society there are 850,000 people in the UK that are currently living with a form of dementia, with that set to rise over 1 Million by 2025 and 2 Million by 2051. 225,000 people will develop dementia this year – 1 every 3 minutes. That makes it extremely likely that a significant number of those affected will be football fans.

With talk on here and on twitter recently about the way the club engages with existing fans and the wider community, today I started noting down some ideas I’d had for way in which that could be improved, however, there was one that struck in in particular after I wrote it down and that was that Grimsby Town should become a Dementia Friendly club - possibly the first in the country.

My proposal would be for the club/trust to work with local Health and Social Care providers, Charities and people living with dementia/their families to set up a ‘Dementia Friendly Zone’ at Blundell Park, this would be an unsegregated area for home and away fans living with a form of dementia, any carers they need and any friends or relatives they wish to attend with them. Admission would be free to the person living with Dementia and any carers they require to have with them, with heavily discounted or even free tickets for a set number of friends/family they wish to have with them (maybe up to 2 or 3) and there would also be some form of subsidised transport for home fans who have Dementia that are living with in Grimsby and Cleethorpes to make it easier for them to get to and from games and encourage them to take the opportunity to attend.

If this was implemented, not only would it allow those living with dementia to continue to watch their football club play in a safe, friendly and supportive place – research shows that things like this could have several benefits for both the physical, mental and emotional health of a person living with dementia.

According to the Alzheimer’s society, reminiscing about sport can help people with dementia revisit vivid memories – watching and participating in sport is shown to have similar effects. Equally as importantly, it would allow somebody living with dementia to socialise and experience something different with people who are living with the same illness, helping to prevent institutionalisation of those requiring long term care – important opportunities they may otherwise miss out on.  

Having spent time on work experience in a care home, I’ve seen first-hand how dementia affects people and their families. I’ve also seen how social stimulation, taking part in activities and reminiscing can have a fantastic effect on somebody living with dementia and while it sadly can’t cure them, things like the idea I've suggested does seem to cause an improving in the symptoms a person shows and greatly benefits their overall wellbeing and emotional health, even causing them to revisit memories they may not otherwise have been able to.  
I saw the end of ‘Our Dementia Choir with Vicky McClure’ last night and I believe watching and reminiscing about football could have similar effects and benefits to people as joining the Dementia Choir was shown to have. (If anybody hasn’t seen it I’d recommend they watch it as it gives fantastic insight into why its so important to support people living with dementia).

As a football club, I believe Grimsby Town should be a central part of the community and being able to support fans living with dementia and their families would be a fantastic way for the club to make itself part of the community and possibly even be pioneers of a new scheme in English football.

Obviously, this is just an idea for now and I was just wanting to know what people thought? I’m sure it’d only need minimal investment, maybe £1000, £2000 at most but if the club weren't willing to or weren’t in a position to subsidise it, if required, would people be willing to make a small donation on a crowd funder to help make it happen. Maybe it’s something the SLO or Mariners Trust could look in to, even just to trial for a season.

Thats the support of the club gone !!  

Start small , maybe a dementia / alzheimers day, contact the main national charities for their advice rather than starting afresh. Our club , like many others, have legends who have been seriously effected by these conditions so i think there would be general backing for this amongst the support.

What a wonderful and inspirational idea.
This could only be a positive not only for those affected but also for the club genuinely connecting with the comunity.

Are you aware of the work already done in this area?

https://www.nelincs.gov.uk/mariners-trust-support-sporting-memories-group/

A good start.

Good idea. Build on the sporting memories thing.