A HARD-WORKING student has continued her good work supporting people in her area who suffer with dementia.

Donna Jones recently planned a memory walk in Pwllheli to raise awareness of dementia in general, and the 800,000 people in the UK – including 11,000 people in north Wales – who live with the condition.

She has just completed her Certificate of Higher Education in Healthcare Practice Level 4 qualification at Coleg Llandrillo’s dedicated Institute of Health and Social Care, which is situated at the Rhos-on-Sea campus.

Over 160 people – including outreach health care support worker Donna, other staff from the older persons’ mental health team, patients with dementia and local children – took part in the one and a half mile walk from Pwllheli Leisure Centre.

Now Donna is organising day trips for people suffering with memory issues.

“I have organised trips for our service users in conjunction with O Ddrws I Ddrws transport services,” she explained to the Cambrian News.

“It’s to encourage them to venture out in public and ignore the stigma associated to the illness. Also, it’s critical they don’t feel their life is over just because they have a diagnosis of dementia; social inclusion and relationships have really important therapeutic benefits within dementia care.”

The latest trip saw Donna and her dementia group travel to Aberdaron for fish and chips in the Ty Newydd.

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