Sunday 2 November 2014

A Thank You From My Heart 2500 ( to date ) Personal Pledges To MakeADifference

 

A BIG thank you from  the heart to everyone who has made a pledge so far ,for our  You Can Make A Difference Campaign and tour  as of today we have received just over 2500  PLEDGES 





I have  been taking the You Can Make aDifference campaign to staff and students throughout Scotland ,England ,Wales  to highlight that no matter what their role, everyone working in Health and Social Care Services has the potential to transform the lives and experiences of people with dementia and their carers, often in seemingly small ways. 

The talks involve sharing our own personal experiences from caring for my  late mum, Joan, and the experiences of others who have written to me  since I  wen ton tour in 2011. 

I hope The Talks - Tour- Campaign allows staff the opportunity to reflect on these personal stories and make a pledge based on one key message or action that they will take away and apply to their everyday practice to make a difference. 
Some of the pledges received so far include;

“I pledge to view the person I care for as all that they have been, all that they are and all that they can be.” 

I pledge to treat people with dementia and their carers the way I would like to be treated.”

“I pledge to make a difference as the future nurse to listen to the carers and patient.  To give them the best support and care they needed and not to make them ever feel isolated.”





How you can make a pledge 

We launched the ‘You Can Make a Difference’ Campaign in February of this year and it has been so inspiring to see it grow. Tommy Whitelaw has given over 100 talks already this year, with 178  scheduled in total, and we wanted to really thank those who have gotten involved and made it all possible. The talks involve  Tommy sharing his own personal experiences from caring and the experiences of others who have written to him since he went on tour in 2011, to help people understand some of the issues that carers face, and what we can all do to help overcome these issues.

The campaign  has really shown the difference that every single person can make, no matter how small it may seem. This has been through asking people to reflect on carers experiences, and tomake a pledge about one key action they could take to really have a positive impact in the lives of others. Some of the pledges have been about a simple change in attitude such as “I pledge to listen with open ears and open heart.” This type of change is one that we can all implement in our own lives, no matter who we are, where we live, or what we do.

The full collection of pledges, along with further information on the campaign can be accessed online at dementiacarervoices.wordpress.com, where you can submit your own pledge to make a difference.
To get in touch, please call the project team on 0141 404 0233 or email makeadifference@alliance-scotland.org.uk




Thanks for reading my blog, You can now view my 8 short flims here! http://tommy-on-tour-2011.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/my-mums-name-was-joan-this-is-our-story.html
DCV photo DementiaCarerRGBlandscape3_zpsa2f3d5ff.jpg

1 comment:

  1. Hi Tommy - can you tell me as a Staff Nurse more about becoming a Dementia Champion?

    ReplyDelete

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My mums name was Joan ,my Mum Had Dementia - our Story 9 Short Films

Tommy’s speech, providing a carer’s perspective,  on the theme of “ No – one ever asked   ” highlighted the transformational impact that ...