Dementia Support Line
Alzheimer’s Society announces care home pioneers Avnish and Anita Goyal as Ambassadors
Founder and Chairman of Hallmark Care Homes, Avnish Goyal and his wife Anita, are backing Alzheimer’s Society’s Emergency Appeal, following their appointment as Ambassadors with the charity.
Their appointment comes at a time where people with dementia, 95% of whom are over 65 and mainly reliant on social care, are at significant risk and cut off from the outside world because of the current coronavirus crisis.
The social care system, already at breaking point, has been further impacted by a reduction in care workers, as well as care homes having to regulate numbers of visitors.
The need for Alzheimer’s Society’s services has never been more urgent. Around 80% of calls to its Dementia Connect support line are about coronavirus issues and in March alone, nearly 3,300 calls were made. There’s been an increase of 600% in people joining the charity’s online community Talking Point in the last two weeks and around 100 more posts made per day.
The charity’s Emergency Appeal will raise funds to help keep the Dementia Connect support line going and extend telephone and virtual support. People affected by dementia tell us our support line is a lifeline with thousands of people affected by dementia now having to cope with a temporary closure of face-to-face services and self-isolation.
Hallmark Care Homes was founded in 1997 and over the last 23 years, the company has won numerous awards for delivering outstanding care and for building some of the best care homes in the country. Now with 20 care homes in England and Wales, Hallmark Care Homes were recently named the Top Recommended Mid-Size Care Provider in the UK for 2019 by carehome.co.uk.
A specialist in relationship-centred care, including for people living with dementia, Hallmark Care Homes is a member of the National Dementia Action Alliance, is signed up to the national Dementia Pledge and is actively involved in research projects to improve standards of dementia care. The company is a steering group member of the Housing and Dementia Research Consortium to support research on what practices best support people living with dementia to positively influence policy and practice for dementia care in the UK.
Avnish and Anita Goyal also launched The Care Sector Ball, the only annual, dedicated fundraiser for the Social Care Sector in 2018. Since its launch it has raised over £345,000 for The Care Workers Charity, Alzheimer’s Society and Alzheimer’s Research UK.
Avnish will also bring a wealth of experience to the role as Chair of Care England, the largest trade association for the care sector and the founding Trustee and now Patron of The Care Workers' Charity.
Speaking about the Alzheimer’s Society Ambassador role, Avnish said:
We are delighted to be Ambassadors for Alzheimer’s Society, especially in these unprecedented times where people with dementia need even more protection and support.
'When we purchased our first care home back in 1997, it was because we wanted to make a difference; we saw that older people, including people with dementia, often don’t get the quality of care they deserve after a life of contribution. We therefore, in collaboration with people living with dementia and our front-line teams developed an internal dementia strategy called 'Together'; a set of standards and outcomes that all of our homes are required to achieve.
'The coronavirus outbreak will result in people with dementia becoming cut off from society, with some unable to carry out everyday tasks such as eating and washing and having to give up doing the things they enjoy. This is why we’re committed to doing everything we can to ensure people affected by dementia are seen as a priority by the government, the research community and across society both now and in the future.'
Welcoming Avnish and Anita Goyal as new Ambassadors, Kate Lee, CEO at Alzheimer’s Society, said:
'Not only are people affected by dementia finding things particularly tough at the moment, but we know the social care sector is under even more pressure to care for and support the most vulnerable in our society. We are hearing daily from families struggling to explain what’s going on and carers unable to visit vulnerable people in person. With support from Avnish and Anita and their experience in the sector, we can make sure that we are there for everyone affected by the condition and can help provide much-needed information and support in these unprecedented times, but we can’t do this without urgent donations.'
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Coronavirus is seriously disrupting our ability to fund our dementia information and support. If you’ve found our advice helpful then please consider donating if you can.
