Webhelp is delighted to be working in partnership with Dementia UK as their corporate charity for 2020. And we’d like to help spread some support for their Time for a Cuppa campaign, which is starting a week of activity, on the 1st to the 8th March. And who better to tell us about this than Admiral Nurse, Wendy, who hosted her own party last year!

We love a brew and a good conversation here at Webhelp, so we think Time for a Cuppa is the perfect occasion to get together with our colleagues (and eat some amazing home baking!) whilst raising money to help dementia specialist nurses to support more families facing dementia.

Our people are getting ready to host their own tea parties, right across the UK, which we will share on social media, and to inspire them we’ve asked Admiral Nurse Wendy Mountford to tell us why her work is so important and how to get involved:

“Throughout my 25 year nursing career, I have always enjoyed working with people living with dementia and their family members.

I became an Admiral Nurse at Douglas Macmillan Hospice in 2017, to ensure that families with dementia are given information and support regarding end of life care.  It’s a very difficult time for families, but we can be there for them to make sure the person with dementia is comfortable and not in any pain, and that the family are as well looked after as possible.

Admiral Nurses help families throughout their experience with dementia, and one of the great honours about being one is helping people to cope, while dealing with one of the toughest health conditions out there.

We help people to understand how the person with dementia might be feeling, to help them identify if they are in any pain, and to give them the tools and the confidence to communicate with other healthcare professionals, such as those working in a care home, to make sure that the person’s wellbeing and best interests are always being looked after.

Throughout my role as an Admiral Nurse, Dementia UK has done a huge amount to support me through monthly supervisions and training sessions so it was really important for me to give something back – Time for a Cuppa seemed like an ideal opportunity.

Last year, we held a Time for a Cuppa at the hospice. Each department baked a cake and entered them into our cake competition. The prize was afternoon tea for two at a popular local venue. People made donations for slices and we played games, such as guess the bear’s name and the number of sweets in a jar, to raise funds and to get people chatting.

We invited everybody: hospice staff, patients, visitors and volunteers and many attended; catching up with them all was my favourite part of the day!”

You can hold your Time for a Cuppa anytime of the year, not just in March – and remember every cake you bake, every cuppa you make and every pound you raise can make a huge difference to people with dementia and their families.

We will be supporting Dementia UK throughout the year and posting regular fundraising stories, led by our on-site Engagement Ambassadors at www.webhelp.com. To find out more about the valuable work of Dementia UK visit www.dementiauk.org