Photograph of the cottages or surrounding area

Dementia Friendly

Cottage in the Dales offer The Dairy, luxury dementia friendly accessible inclusive accommodation.

Why are we doing this?
Why is it important to have dementia-friendly accommodation?
What is a Dementia Friend and what does it mean?
How familiarisation of our Dementia Friendly Accommodation can help our guests
What is provided in our dementia friendly accommodation - integrated facilities and equipment
What dementia-friendly activities are available in the cottage
What places of interest, activities and attractions are available locally that are dementia friendly
What are the dementia support facilities available locally

P.S. Lots more pictures to aid familiarlisation coming soon!

Why are we doing this?

Both Diane and Andrew have received the education from the Alzheimers Society and are now 'Dementia Friends'. This training helped Diane on a personal level over the last few years as her mother's diagnosis of vascular dementia after a stroke quickly affected her mentally rather than physically. Finding it hard to communicate with a loved one that appears to be disappearing before your very eyes in so many ways, the Dementia Friends education helped Diane enormously to cope with the changing, increasingly difficult and emotional situations. Sadly, Diane's mother died of this terminal disease in early 2019. We are proud to provide dementia friendly accommodation at The Dairy in memory of Diane's mother, Norma Metcalfe of Hartlepool.

What is Dementia-Friendly?

Take a look at the VisitEngland developed guide below which provides an introduction to understand dementia and the challenges faced by people affected by dementia. Dementia affects people in so many different ways, both physically and/or mentally. There are suggestions of what we can do as individuals and as a business to help people with dementia live well and enjoy staying at The Dairy and visiting the Yorkshire Dales. This includes improving the physical environment and also most importantly how we can communicate with someone with dementia. It really is small simple things that can make such a big difference to someone living with dementia.

Please be aware that it is important to say that someone is living with, or affected by, dementia rather than suffering from dementia.Thank you to VisitEngland & the Alzheimers Society for providing excellent practical guidance on how to be an dementia friendly business.

Become a Dementia Friend

Learn more about what it is like to live with dementia and turn that understanding into action. A Dementia Friend is somebody that learns about dementia so they can help their community. Too many people affected by dementia feel that society fails to understand the condition they live with. Dementia Friends help by raising awareness and understanding, so that people living with dementia can continue to live in the way they want. Dementia Friends help people living with dementia by taking actions - both big and small, which we can do through our business and also personally.

We would highly recommend becoming a 'Dementia Friend'. The education is about 1.5 hours long and available FREE OF CHARGE across the country. Click on our own 'Dementia Friend' badge below to find out where and when your nearest education is happening. After your education, we know you will be proud to wear your own Dementia Friend badge.

What makes The Dairy dementia-friendly?

For so many people, the following items mentioned are rather obvious. But for someone with any of the variations of dementia, the most common being Alzheimer’s and Vascular Dementia, short-term memory, familiarisation and so many other quite simple things we all take for granted, become a big problem as dementia diminishes a person's capabilities.

Familiarisation before arrival

Guests can gain a feeling of familiarisation easily by viewing many aspects of our website

The introductory video shows the approach to buildings, onto the courtyard, where the car is parked, what the outside of the cottage looks like. Most importantly the video shows a guided tour round the video.
3D walk-through tour
Panoramic walk-through tour of the extensive gardens
See the Cottage in the Dales logo on the wall of the driveway as they arrive
Guests are welcome to do a familiarisation visit before they come for their holiday if they wish.

Activities in The Dairy

Send us your playlist or details of your favourite music and can have that playing when you arrive.
Listening to Music - access BBC Music Memories via the TV to help people with dementia reconnect with their most powerful memories. Also BBC Memory Radio is available on BBC Sounds. Both stations are saved in the TV Memory.
Make a playlist of favourite songs and life. Playlist for Life has information about music and dementia, and advice about how and when to listen to it.
Love to Move is a seated gymnastic programme for people living with dementia. Download the pack to try activities whilst you are at home or on holiday at The Dairy

Integrated Dementia-Friendly Facilities at The Dairy

The floors are plain Karndean hard flooring throughout the cottage (except the wet room of course), with a contrast, room by room. There is also a thin black line around the rooms a few inches from the spiring to aid spacial awareness.
The wet room has a black slate slip-resistant floor, with a little white marbling through it. The tiles in the bathroom and wet room are off-white and black, providing an excellent contrast.
Contrasts - There is a high level of contrast between the floors, skirting, walls, switches and sockets, and door levers.
The wet room has a wall-mounted remote control push-button to switch the shower on and off. When a guest has used the shower for the first time at the favoured temperature, then every time the guests use the shower for the remaining time at the cottage, the shower will maintain that temperature, which is thermostatically controlled, so there is no risk of burning from hot water.
The light switches are simple on-off or dimmable. Each of the switches can be identified with removable sticky labels. Just order them in advance.
Mirrors - there are a number in the cottage - bedroom and bathroom. If you would like them covered up, just let us know in advance as we know some people with dementia do not recognise themselves when looking in the mirror.
Door keys - there are 3 external doors leading from the interior outside - main door, lounge to patio door and an emergency exit from the bedroom. A key is provided for each door, but they are all the same, ie the same key fits all the locks, thereby easier to understand and use.

Dememtia-Friendly Equipment

A light coloured doormat is important as people with dementia’s perception of a dark/black doormat is that it is a hole, and so could cause anxiety.
Variety of lighting - side lights, reading lights, dimmable ceiling lights, and low-level ‘moonlight’ for night time and can be moved to the most appropriate socket in any room.
Spare set of bedlinen and towels for use as needed.
The light switches are simple on-off or dimmable. Each of the switches can be identified with removable sticky labels. Just order them in advance.
Removable sticky labels that can be added to cupboards and/or doors to aid familiarisation as to the layout of the cottage or what is in each cupboard.
The jars of tea, coffee and sugar, are clearly identified and have a strong contrast, and still remaining stylish. Enjoy them with our compliments.
The remote controls for the TVs in the lounge and bedroom, the Blu-Ray DVD and the ceiling mounted hood over the hob, are all clearly labelled.

What’s not quite as dementia-friendly?

The light switches and sockets are chrome with some reflective qualities.
There are mirrors in the bathroom and bedroom, but we can cover them up before your arrival if you let us know in advance.

Dementia-Friendly Places whilst out and about in the Yorkshire Dales

Find out what is available that is Dementia Friendly in Richmondshire. May we highly recommend Richmond Pool in Richmond as it is dementia friendly