This evening the team welcomed to our Ladybridge Hall Base / HQ, Beverley Page-Banks, Branch Manager of the Alzheimer’s Society, Central Lancashire and Fylde branch.

Beverley was kindly visiting the team to give a presentation entitled; ’Understanding and respecting the Person with Dementia.’

Beverley first came to the notice of the team when our Team Leader Garry Rhodes MBE and our Training Officer Elaine Gilliland attended a Lancashire Constabulary Missing Person Search Managers Course in July this year, and Beverley gave this same presentation to the course.

Given that the Bolton MRT is regularly involved in searches for missing persons diagnosed with Dementia, it seemed very appropriate to invite Beverley to give the same presentation to the whole team membership.

Thirty Team Call Out list members attended this evening to hear Beverley’s very interesting presentation, alongside four family members of team members.

Beverley opened her illustrated talk with a simple test to all present, (Which we will not report in case any of our readers may come across this presentation in the future) which served to illustrate very quickly to all present how it feels to struggle to find a memory.

She then explained that Dementia is very much an umbrella term for a number of physical diseases of the brain, including Alzeimers Disease, Korsakoff’s Syndrome and Vascular Dementia.

The scale of the growing problem of Dementia (world wide not just the UK) was highlighted, plus the sad fact that it is a progressive condition that worsens with no known current cure, despite considerable research.

A very thought provoking and somewhat ’hard hitting’ film was then shown, entitled ’Edge of Darkness,’ which served to illustrate how dementia affects not just the sufferer but the carers and many others.

Along with Beverley’s comprehensive insight into dementia she also offered us advice when dealing with searches for missing persons who may be dementia sufferers.
At the end of her excellent presentation, which all present found very informative, interesting and indeed thought provoking, Beverley was thanked by our Team Training Officer Elaine Gilliland, who then presented Beverley with a box of chocolates and a bottle of wine as a token of the teams appreciation for sharing her knowledge with us.