Thirty older people with dementia and 20 of their loved ones providing unpaid care, will receive fun, friendship and support thanks to a grant from London Freemasons to Time and Talents Association (Time & Talents). 

The £60,000 grant will support Time & Talents’ Ruby Tuesdays dementia support and Carers Club projects, which will provide enhanced care and support to older people with dementia and memory loss and their unpaid carers.

The programme will make a significant difference to people with dementia and memory loss, delivering weekly sessions of social and therapeutic activities and working with local arts, dance, and heritage sector partners to provide mental and physical stimulation. The older people who attend Ruby Tuesdays often are unable to leave their house without Time & Talents’ fully escorted transportation service, and this is their only chance each week to meet other people in the same position as themselves.

Crucially, Ruby Tuesdays will offer participants’ carers a period of respite each week from the difficult task of providing dementia care. Carers have told Time & Talents they need respite time to carry out their own life tasks, but also want a regular combination of peer support and expert advice to help them manage the emotional and practical challenges of providing care for a family member with memory loss. Building from this feedback, the programme will also deliver fortnightly Carers Club, in-person support sessions and an online forum for the carers of Ruby Tuesday participants.

Carers and Ruby Tuesdays participants both tell Time & Talents how important this support is to them: for example, Jacob cares for his wife Mischa. He says that she dozesall day at home, rarely moving at all. However, during ‘Dancing with Dementia’ sessions, she is always up dancing in the middle of the circle and refuses to sit down! These sessions are her only physical exercise, which takes a lot of pressure off Jacob, who was worried sick about her physical decline prior to these sessions. 

The grant from London Freemasons comes through the Masonic Charitable Foundation, which is funded by Freemasons, their families and friends, from across England and Wales.

Time & Talents’ Chief Executive Diana Hofler said: 

“We’re very grateful to London Freemasons for their generous grant. We know that without community-based social interaction, people with dementia and memory loss cognitively and physically decline much faster, putting even more pressure on family members already providing unpaid care all day, every day. Ruby Tuesdays is a crucial social support, and Carers Club provides respite, peer support, expert advice and most importantly a space to talk openly about the impact that providing care has on their own mental wellbeing.”

Paul King from London Freemasons, said:

“I’m really pleased we’ve been able to help Time & Talents with their vital project. People with dementia are among the most vulnerable in our society and this wonderful charity does a great deal to improve their mental, emotional and physical health and well-being. Equally important is the support they offer to carers, many of whom are older adults themselves with their own health challenges.”