The pioneering work on dementia awareness and the railway by the Leeds-Morecambe Community Rail Partnership came in for special mention in the recently released Williams-Shapps Plan for Rail.
To quote the plan; ‘Best practice, such as that demonstrated by the work of the Leeds-Morecambe Community Rail Partnership with Northern Trains to improve facilities for those with invisible disabilities and training staff and volunteers as Dementia Friends, will be supported more widely across the network and incentivised within Passenger Service Contracts.’ (Williams-Shapps Plan for Rail, page 46.)
Gerald Townson, chair of the LMCRP said; “we are delighted at this recognition of our ground-breaking work, alongside Northern, in creating Britain’s first dementia-friendly railway, on the Bentham Line. We are greatly encouraged by the Plan’s promotion of inclusivity and commitment to support and develop this initiative. The LMCRP welcomes the publication and looks forward to a positive future role for all CRPs. It is particularly pleasing that the publication coincides with Dementia Action Week 2021, as our roving ambassador, unit 150 214 bedecked in forget-me-nots, continues its travels around the Northern Network.
Pete Myers, stakeholder manager for Northern Trains – East Area, who has given a great deal of help and support to the project, commented: “The Government does not tend to identify outside organisations in papers as important as the Williams – Shapps Review. Therefore, it is a real credit to the Bentham Line’s CRP that they have received this direct mention. Something they clearly deserve, as the work they have undertaken to make the Bentham Line dementia friendly is nothing short of awe inspiring, and I for one, and also on behalf of NorthernTrains, am immensely proud to have played a small part in it.”
Rod Tickner, vice chair of LMCRP and a co-founder of Dementia Friendly Keighley, added: “At our train naming ceremony two years ago our colleagues at Northern Trains were expressing the hope that our work on creating a dementia-friendly railway would become ‘a beacon for other railways’ and be rolled out across the entire rail network. Today that aspiration moves a step nearer to reality. “
Jools Townsend, chief exec of Community Rail Network, commented: ‘Through work like that of the LMCRP, it’s plain to see how vital our railways are to community life – but they have an even greater role to play going forward’.
