Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is appealing for people to join its Dementia Memory Walk to raise money for the Trust’s Dementia Care Appeal and the Alzheimer’s Society.

The sponsored walk will be held in Sherwood Forest Country Park in Edwinstowe on Sunday, 18th May 2014 from 10.30am. Participants can choose from one of three routes which range from 1 to 3½ miles. For those who would like to be involved but would rather not undertake one of the walks, the trust is also looking for volunteers to help out on the day.

Currently there are more than 800,000 diagnosed cases of dementia in the UK and an estimated 42% of the population has a close friend or family member living with dementia.

Sherwood Forest Hospitals is committed to improving the quality of care offered to patients with dementia and has introduced many improvements over the last year including memory boxes, a volunteer befriending scheme and dementia friendly signs to five inpatient wards.

As patients with dementia can be admitted to any adult ward the Trust has launched the Dementia Care Appeal to ensure that every adult ward is ‘dementia friendly’.

Adam Hayward, Practice Development Matron for Dementia, said: “Dementia is a growing issue and impacts massively on individuals, families and carers. Events such as this are a great way to help develop more dementia friendly communities, have fun, raise money, and fight dementia every step of the way”.

For further information and a sponsorship pack contact Rachel Cooke on 01623 622515 extension 3575 or email [email protected]