Health and Social Care students at Dolgellau and Pwllheli have become Dementia Friends this month to make a difference in the lives of vulnerable people in the community.

Working with Gwynedd Council, Coleg Meirion-Dwyfor’s Dolgellau and Pwllheli campuses recently welcomed Dementia Friends Emma Quaeck, a Dementia Go manager at Glaslyn Healthy Living Centre, and Glenda Roberts, a supporter of the cause, to give training sessions to BTEC Level 2 and 3 Health and Social Care students.

The day-sessions given at each college were designed to develop the students’ understanding and knowledge of the condition.

Everyone who took part is now a Dementia Friend, with a badge to prove it.

Glenda herself has dementia and supports the Dementia Friends sessions by giving students more of an understanding and awareness of the condition.

Students will have 10 sessions in total throughout the year, where elderly people in the community, identified by Gwynedd Council, come in to the college to speak with the young people.

The students thoroughly enjoyed the experience and are looking forward to their Dementia Friend sessions in the future.

Erin Fflur Jones from Blaenau Ffestiniog is one of the Level 3 Health and Social Care students taking part.

She said: “I am looking forward to getting to know members of the local community who need more social interaction and friendship.

“It’s really rewarding to give my time to people who benefit so much from being in the company of others, especially younger people.

“Some of the individuals who we will be helping don’t have any family and rarely leave their homes, so it’s nice to be able to help them by welcoming them to the college.”

If you would like to learn more about becoming a Dementia Friend visit https://www.dementiafriends.org.uk/