Belsize Village, Hampstead, London, UK: Penrose Care is honoured to be sponsoring the Real Picture exhibition: Mum, Dementia & I being held at Bernie Grant Arts Centre in Tottenham from 12^th-23^rd November 2014 with a Private Viewing on the 11^th November 2014 from 7:00pm-9:30pm which free tickets can be purchased via Eventbrite. The exhibition and related events are free and donations are encouraged to the Alzheimer’s Society.

The exhibit is by Annemarie Anang, 32, a civic activist of North London Citizens aiming to increase awareness of dementia and improve the care system. Mum, Dementia & I gives an intimate insight into life with her mother, Elizabeth, as together they attempt to make sense of the changes in their lives caused by the onset of dementia.

Annemarie said:

“As more of us live longer it’s inevitable that many of us will need help and support in the form of care services. But the current care system just isn’t equipped to cope.

“Although it is possible to live well with dementia with the right support from professionals, family and friends, dementia is a cruel disease that’s slowly taking hold of my mum. That’s tough enough, but on top of that we’ve had to also manage inadequate and inconsistent care from care workers, many of whom are kind and hardworking, but who aren’t given the right training for what is a difficult job. Most are paid less than a Living Wage and are constantly being rushed from one job to the next, leaving little time to give quality care, let alone build up a relationship with the vulnerable clients they support.

“I decided to create this exhibition to give a personal testimony as to why we should care about care services. Other people write papers and policy documents, and this my way. I hope these images will encourage more discussion about dementia, why care is important and get people talking in the build up to the 2015 election about why these issues should be on every politicians agenda.”

The photographs give glimpses into their everyday life, the coping mechanisms they’ve developed to help Elizabeth understand her own home and daily life within it.

Annemarie and her mum are both members of Stamford Hill’s, St Ignatius Church, where Annemarie has also run a series of ‘Dementia Friends’ information sessions that aim to encourage people to learn more about the disease and how to make their community more dementia friendly.

Robert Stephenson-Padron, Penrose Care managing director, said: “Penrose Care, as one of the handful of Accredited Living Wage Employers in London’s home care sector, is honoured to support Annemarie’s beautiful work. We strongly feel that art such as this helps engage the humanity of those who experience it. If the collective humanity of civil society is enacted to help improve the UK’s ailing social care system, then I believe those much needed improvements will happen.”

ENDS

Media Contact

Penrose Care

Robert Stephenson-Padron

robert.padron@penrosecare.co.uk

0207 435 2644

 

The Real Picture

Gillian Owen

gillian.owen@citizensuk.org.uk

07876246150

About Mum, Dementia & I

www.therealpicture.org

Mum, Dementia & I’ is a photography exhibition that explores the reality of living with dementia. It gives an intimate insight into daily life for my mother, and myself and how we attempted to make sense of the changes in our lives caused by the arrival of dementia. Glimpses into our coping methods, as well as the difficulties encountered with the introduction of carers into our home, can be seen. The public are invited to view these personal photographs and engage in the issues surrounding social care as we become a nation where we are living longer and yet the way older people are cared for continues to be a concern. The exhibition also includes a short video featuring my mother and I, that was broadcast on London Live earlier this year. There will be an opportunity for the public to share their views on dementia and social care. The exhibition is supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England. Citizens UK, campaigners for better Social Care, are our partners.

You can listen to Annemarie speak on BBC You and Yours at 32:30-41:30 in the following recording from 06 Oct 2014, which includes a praise for Penrose Care’s home care services: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04k9gjd

About Penrose Care

Penrose Care is an ethical provider of home care services London, United Kingdom to adults with disabilities and elderly persons, including those with dementia. The company operates upon a fundamental belief that to promote a caring workforce, the organisation itself must be caring. As the pioneer of ethics in home care in the UK, Penrose Care in 2012 became one of the first four providers in the country to become an Accredited Living Wage Employer and in 2013 the first independent sector provider to be compliant with Citizens UK’s landmark Social Care Charter.

Penrose Care’s ethical approach promotes higher quality social care workers and low staff turnover which in turn results in excellent care. Penrose Care is headquartered in Belsize Village, north London and was founded by Robert Stephenson-Padron, a healthcare research analyst, and Dr. Matthew Knight, a hospital physician.