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Charity runs energy advice sessions for dementia patients

A North West charity is supporting people with dementia with bespoke energy advice through tailored outreach sessions.

Energy advisors at Preston Citizens Advice take a proactive approach to their engagement activities across the city, working alongside many other charities to reach people in need of support.

While attending a networking event, the team met with a member of the community who ran a local support café for those with dementia and their carers – and have subsequently started to deliver tailored support sessions.

Angela Morgan, Energy Advisor at Preston Citizens Advice, said: “We go out to different venues, such as libraries, family hubs and community centres. At one event, we got chatting to people running the local dementia café and asked if we could help in any way.

“We ran the event at the café as an informal session. The café was a very relaxed environment and inviting to everybody. We sat with people and told them about the support they could receive, such as the Priority Services Register, Pension Credit, Warm Home Discount and all the different types of benefits they may be able to claim.

“Carers can often feel lonely and isolated, and these sessions help them socialise in a welcoming space.”

At the first event, the team engaged directly with people with dementia, using flash cards featuring potential energy saving tips and wordsearches. This helped members of the café to interact with the information in a creative manner.

The team then returned to run a workshop aimed at the carers and ran an energy bingo game to help deliver the information.

Fellow Preston Citizens Advice Energy Advisor Ayaz Ali said it was important for the team to be seen out and about in the local community.

He said: “The dementia café is just one example of what we do. We started going to events like these because we wanted to be on the frontline. We want people to know that we are available to the local community and provide as much assistance as we can.

“We have a presence in different local areas, with regular pop-up events held every month. This allows people to return with any enquiries they may have. The feedback received from the community is extremely positive and we are glad to have the opportunity to bring practical benefits to people’s lives.”

Over the last six months, the team has seen more than 250 people in outreach sessions across Preston.

These include people like Sarah* who attended the energy workshop at the dementia café. Sarah is a nurse coming up to retirement who cares for an elderly family member and attends the café regularly.

She approached the team after the session for information about Pension Credit. The advisor was able to give her the relevant information, and identified support she could receive. Along with the other carers, she was registered for the Priority Services Register, giving her dedicated free support from her energy and water companies. The advisor also provided an energy-saving factsheet and energy-saving gadgets to help her in the upcoming winter months.

*name changed to protect identity

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