Recently it was announced that two million people have united against dementia by becoming Dementia Friends and amongst those supporting the cause were the Private Client Team from leading Midlands law firm George Green LLP.

In 2013 the Alzheimer’s Society’s launched the Dementia Friends initiative to tackle the stigma that often results in people with dementia losing friends and being socially isolated.  Since then it has been transforming the way people act, think and talk about the condition in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The Private Client Team at George Green LLP attended a face to face Dementia Friends’ session organised  by  Legal Executive and Private Client specialist  Liz Waterhouse who is a ”dementia champion” within the Dementia Friends network . Dementia champions have all undergone a period of training and development which means they have an enhanced understanding of the challenges posed by the condition.  During the session the team learnt more about dementia and the ways in which we can all contribute to help others diagnosed with dementia. 

Liz Waterhouse commented “much of my time is spent dealing with the needs of the elderly and unfortunately, of course, this can increasingly mean those with worries about living with dementia or the onset of the condition. My mission is always to seek to understand before advising and I felt that I would be in a far better position to help my clients and their families in this respect, if I put myself in a position of much greater clarity in terms of my own understanding of dementia and the challenges it poses. Becoming a dementia champion has gone a long way to achieve this for me “

Claire Pottinger Partner and Head of Private Client said “the Dementia Friends initiative is an excellent way of helping the public to understand how living with dementia can affect large numbers in our society. I am pleased that the team were so open to embracing the initiative and training to become Dementia Friends, so that we can provide an even more understanding and empathetic service to our clients.”

David Stevenson Chief Executive of George Green LLP commented “you don’t need me to tell you how concerned our clients continue to be about this area .If we are going to deliver on our promise to make a real difference to our clients then we have to tailor our approach to deal with the challenges faced by our clients in the modern world of which this is a significant one of course. We are continually looking to enhance what we do in response to changing client needs and the activities of Liz and the team are just one example of how we are tackling this.”

Pictured; George Green LLP, Private Client department