As part of Rutland's Great Dementia Conversation, Alicia Kearns MP is hosting an event titled 'Let's Talk About Dementia with Angela Rippon' in June 2024.

The event will take place on Friday 28 June from 1.30 - 3.30pm at The Barnsdale in Rutland and will be chaired by journalist, TV and radio presenter, and Alzheimer's Society Ambassador Angela Rippon C.B.E.

The event is free and open to all Rutlanders, and Rutland organisations, businesses, community groups, charities, GPs and health professionals, parish councils, schools, sports clubs, churches, and local media.

During the event experts from different fields will speak on the importance of dementia awareness and how different parts of society can work to become more dementia friendly.

Angela May Rippon CBE is an English television journalist, newsreader, writer and presenter. Image credit: Alicia Kearns MP.

Alicia Kearns, Member of Parliament for Rutland and Melton, said:

"I am so grateful to Angela Rippon and the amazing panel of dementia experts and ambassadors who are kindly giving up their time to support Rutland's Great Dementia Conversation and continue our county-wide conversation.

"I hope this event will give every member of our community and organisation within it the opportunity to identify how to be more dementia aware, and encourage more people to step forward and access the wide network of support available in Rutland so that we can become the first dementia friendly county in the country."

The panel for the afternoon will be made up of the following speakers, introduced by Alicia Kearns MP:

• Angela Rippon C.B.E: award-winning journalist, TV and radio presenter and Alzheimer's Society Ambassador. Angela to give a keynote on becoming a dementia friendly county and will chair the event.
• Ian Sheriff B.E.M: leading figure in dementia policy and research nationally and internationally. Alzheimer's Society Ambassador, member of the Prime Minister's Dementia Friendly Communities Challenge Group, Chair of the Prime Minister's Rural Dementia Challenge group (set up by David Cameron as Prime Minister) and current Academic Partnership Lead for Dementia at the University of Plymouth.
• Liz Hitchens M.A: Chair and founding member of Dementia Friendly Parishes around the Yealm. Will discuss how rural communities can become dementia aware.
• Tomasina Oh: PhD Associate Professor (Dementia Research) and NIHR PenARC Dementia Fellow who will focus on her research on post-diagnostic support in GP practices.
• Dr Rupert Noad: Consultant Neuropsychologist and Head of Neuropsychology and Clinical Health Psychology at Derriford Hospital, Plymouth. Dr Noad has a clinical interest in early onset dementia and researches in the field of cognitive assessment and early detection of dementia.
• David FitzGerald, Media Consultant who will focus on how radio, TV and media can be more dementia aware.
• Hilary Cragg: Partner and practising solicitor, member of the Prime Minister's Dementia Challenge Team, Dementia Friend, Dementia Champion and Purple Angel Ambassador, regular speaker at conferences raising awareness of dementia. Will discuss the legal framework of dementia and national processes.

Join Rutland's Great Dementia Conversation. Image credit: Alicia Kearns MP.

Physical or digital copies of tickets for the event are required on entry. Free tickets for the event can be registered for here.