A guide for Memory Walk organisers

A guide for Memory Walk organisers

CONTENTS 2. Alzheimer Scotland Memory Walks 3. Our Partner 4. Two ways to get involved: Join ours or organise your own 5. Timeline & Who to invite 6. Sponsor form 7. Promotional poster 8. Risk Assessment & Be Legal 9. Raise More & Where to send the money to 10. How your money will help

Alzheimer Scotland Alzheimer Scotland is Scotland s foremost voluntary organisation working for people with dementia and their carers. It campaigns for people with dementia and their carers; operates a wide variety of services at over 60 sites across Scotland; provides the 24 hour national freephone Dementia Helpline (0808 808 3000); has a network of Dementia Advisors; has a Specialist Dementia Nurse programme; publishes leafl ets, booklets, reports and a quarterly newsletter and has a Dementia Research Centre based at The University of Edinburgh. We support people across Scotland affected by dementia, their carers and families. We are committed to making sure that no one goes through dementia on their own. Memory Walks We rely on the support of people across Scotland to engage with our work, support our campaigns and get involved in our fundraising events which take place across Scotland. You can arrange your own fundraising and awareness raising event by holding a Memory Walk. It can be as large or small as you wish, wherever you want it to be and on whatever date you fancy! Just as long as you spread the word and let all your friends, family and colleagues know to come along and join in the fun! Not only is it a fun day out for all the family, it also raises vital funds for people with dementia across Scotland. 2.

OUR PARTNER Bupa s purpose is to help people lead longer, healthier, happier lives. A leading international healthcare group, offering personal and company health insurance, specialist elderly care in care homes across the UK, Spain, Australia and New Zealand and a hospital. It also provides workplace health services, health assessments and chronic disease management services, including health coaching, and home healthcare. Bupa Care Homes has more than 300 nursing and residential homes in the UK and cares for almost 18,500 people. Their care homes are open to everyone - with over 70 percent of their UK residents receiving state funding. Residents do not need Bupa health insurance to stay in a Bupa care home. More than 35 per cent of Bupa s beds in the UK are registered for specialist dementia care and with its unique Person First... dementia second training, developed by Bradford Dementia Group at the University of Bradford, is a leader in dementia care. For more information, visit www.bupa.co.uk/care-homes Walk your way to health with Bupa It might sound too good to be true, but simply walking can help you reach the recommended target of at least 30 minutes of moderate exercise, five days a week. Regular walking protects you against a number of illnesses and can be an efficient way to get around from A to B. You can easily build walks into a busy lifestyle and you can walk pretty much anywhere, at any time. 3.

TWO WAYS TO GET INVOLVED: JOIN OURS We are proud to announce that Alzheimer Scotland, in partnership with Bupa Care Homes, will be holding a large scale, family friendly Memory Walk each year. Its our aim to grow and develop Memory Walk into one of our biggest and best events! Join us for our exciting Memory Walk and help raise funds for people with dementia in Scotland. For more information on Alzheimer Scotland Memory Walks, visit www.alzscot.org ORGANISE YOUR OWN 1. Choose a date Select a date for your walk. Many people choose to do their walk in September to celebrate World Alzheimer s Day on 21 September. Choose a date that is important to you and tell everyone you know why you have chosen this date and why you are holding a Memory Walk for Alzheimer Scotland. 2. Plan the route Scotland has many beautiful places for your walk to take place in. Parks are perfect as they are safe and accessible for all. However please check whether you need permission from the local council or the owner of the grounds before organising your walk. If you are organising a large walk it is best to inform the police. Challenging routes are good and can help increase the money you raise but remember to make your walk inclusive, try to offer alternative routes to people with pushchairs and wheelchairs where possible. 3. Recruit your walkers Tell all your friends, family and colleagues about your event and ask them if they want to get involved. There are plenty of ways to help without doing the walk itself including volunteering on the day and helping to promote the event. Use your personal social media sites including Facebook and Twitter to promote your event and ask your friends to do the same. Create a poster for your event and ask local businesses and shops to display this in their windows. Recruit a team of volunteers to help you hand out fl yers to promote your walk within the local area. 4. On the Day Make sure your route is well sign posted you don t want to lose anyone along the way! Also why not organise a refreshments stand on the day to raise that little bit extra. You will need plenty of marshals along the route and remember that First Aid cover is essential for larger groups. St John s Ambulance and British Red Cross are often willing to provide this service in return for a donation. St John Ambulance British Red Cross 08700 10 49 50 0844 871 11 11 or information@redcross.org.uk 4.

TIMELINE Three months before the walk Choose a date and start letting people know about your walk Choose a route and seek the relevant permissions Let our Events Team know about your walk we can send you out t-shirts, balloons, fl ags, etc to use on the day Two months before the walk Create a poster for the event (or use our promotional poster). Send this poster out to your friends and family and ask them to do the same Start taking names of everyone taking part and send them a sponsorship form and some tips to help them fundraise Encourage your walkers to set up online fundraising pages via sites such as Just Giving: www.justgiving.com Organise your fi rst aid cover One month before the walk Carry out a risk assessment (see page 9 for help) Keep in contact with everyone taking part. Keep them enthusiastic about the event by motivating them to raise funds and let you know how the fundraising is going Why not create an online forum so that your walkers can share top fundraising tips Allocate volunteer tasks for the day so you know you have everything covered for your walk One week before the walk Send out a link to your online fundraising page and tell everyone there is only two weeks until your walk Send an email to those taking part with the details for the event. Sometimes people misplace these so it is always good to send them out one more time. Make sure it includes the date, time and full postal location (where possible) of the walk. Make a register to tick off walkers when they arrive on day Make arrow signs (laminated if possible) for the route The day before the walk Make sure you have all the signs you need for the event and that all your volunteers know the route and their allocated tasks Make a list of any phone numbers you will need for the day, eg your volunteers, in case you need to get in touch with someone If you have a personal Facebook or Twitter site this is a great time to update your friends and family that the walk will be taking place the following day and that supporters are more the welcome to come and watch the walk The day of the event Decorate the registration area with balloons and banners etc Make sure all your volunteers know how to contact you in case of an emergency Double check all the signs are in place and your marshals know the route fully Take a register of all your walkers when they arrive and when they have completed the walk Enjoy YOUR Memory Walk! Who to invite Invite everyone! Rally the community ask libraries, town halls, local shops, gyms 5. and faith groups to display your poster and let people know about your Memory walk.

Alzheimer Scotland 5k Memory Walk and Memory Mile On: At: CONTACT:

RISK ASSESSMENTS STEP 1 IDENTIFY HAZARDS STEP 2 IDENTIFY WHO MAY BE HARMED & HOW CURRENT RISK RATING HE X HP STEP 3 EXISTING OR ADDITIONAL CONTROL MEASURES STEP 4 DO THE CONTROL MEASURES CONTROL THE RISK? RISK RATING WITH ADDITIONAL CONTROL MEASURES HAZARD EFFECT (HE) RATING HAZARD PROBABILITY (HP) RATING PRIORITY OF ACTION TRIVIAL & MINOR INJURIES MAJOR INJURY TO ONE OR MORE PERSON DEATH OF ONE OR MORE PEOPLE MINOR = 1 SERIOUS = 2 MAJOR = 3 POSSIBLE BUT UNLIKEY OCCASIONAL REGULAR OR COMMON (CERTAIN) LOW = 1 MEDIUM = 2 HIGH = 3 1. NO ACTION 2 OR 3. LOW PRIORITY ACTION 4. HIGH PRIORITY ACTION 6. IMMEDIATE ACTION 9. STOP WORK BE LEGAL Here are a few legal requirements and guidelines to help you stay legal whilst organising your Memory Walk: Health and Safety Making sure everyone is safe during the event is vital for a successful Memory Walk. Have a look at the risk assessment template above and identify any hazards or risks that you might encounter during your walk, take steps to reduce these risks and keep your participants safe. Insurance You will need to discuss your insurance requirements with the owner of the land you wish to walk on. If you are walking in a public park please contact the council to discuss this issue. Raffles & Collections If you are holding a raffl e of prize draw at your Memory Walk, there are some rules to take into consideration. For example you will need to make sure that you draw the winners on the same day that you sell raffl e tickets or else you will need to apply for a licence for this raffl e. Please remember that you will need a charitable collection licence if you wish to run a charitable bucket or can collection on the day of your event. Please speak to the council or owner of the grounds in which your walk will take place for the relevant permissions needed. Often you must apply for this licence far in advance of the date you wish to collect so please ensure you apply in plenty of time. Please contact the Events Team on 0845 260 0789 or events@alzscot.org for more information on running a raffl e or collection at your Memory Walk. 8.

RAISE MORE Taking part in a sponsored Memory Walk is a great way to raise funds to support the work of Alzheimer Scotland. Each walker should aim to raise 50 each or more and there are many ways you could help them achieve this. Here are just a few: Hold a raffle or tombola Organise family friendly activities like face-painting, balloon modellers or magicians. Sell refreshments Hold a competition to see who can raise the most money approach local businesses to see if they can provide a prize to encourage people to raise as much money as they can. Gift Aid Don t forget we can claim an extra 25p for every 1 donated by a UK taxpayer. Sponsors must tick for Gift Aid and provide their full name and postal address (business addresses not valid). This information will not be used for any purpose other than to claim Gift Aid. Where to send the money to Please send all sponsorship and donations to: Alzheimer Scotland 22 Drumsheugh Gardens Edinburgh EH3 7RN We d also love to see any photos you have from your Memory Walk! Email these to us and we will add them to our Facebook page! Follow us 9.

HOW YOUR MONEY WILL HELP The money raised by our supporters helps to fund different areas of our work. We rely on voluntary income to fund the following projects: Dementia Advisors Dementia Advisors support individuals with dementia, their families and friends all the way through their journey, providing ongoing support and information, and connecting people to sources of support. Dementia Nurses Dementia Nurses work in hospitals to ensure that people with dementia receive care and treatment that meets their needs. Dementia Helpline (Freephone 0808 808 3000) Our Dementia Helpline offers support and information to people affected by dementia 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Medical Research Alzheimer Scotland funds research into the prevention and treatment of dementia and into the care of people with dementia. The money you raise will go directly towards making sure no one goes through dementia on their own. 10.

Exciting ways to support ALZHEIMER SCOTLAND Alzheimer Scotland - Action on Dementia is a company limited by guarantee, registered in Scotland 149069. Registered Office: 22 Drumsheugh Gardens, Edinburgh EH3 7RN. It is recognised as a charity by the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator, No. SC022315.