Another Georgina has been in touch recently. Georgina Whiting is a beauty therapist who has opened a new practice in Writtle, and she has recently donated half the proceeds of a recent ‘Pamper Evening’ to Essex Dementia Care. Georgina is experiencing dementia in her own family, and we have been very touched by this kind gesture. We perhaps should also say here that if anyone out there wants a little pampering themselves and lives in the Chelmsford/Writtle area, Georgina would be glad to hear from you. You can contact her at www.beautybygeorgina.com or georgina@beautybygeorgina.com. Her tel no is 01245 422244 or 07852 317290.

November 1^st saw the opening of a new venture for Essex Dementia Care – a drop-in centre for carers and cared-for in Braintree (details coming – new page under construction). We have wanted for some time to offer a service which complements our existing one-to-one support and which can respond more flexibly to the needs of our families.

The opening saw lots of friends and associates joining us for the day. April Lawlor, one of our trustees, formally opened the centre describing how this new endeavour sits within the broader scheme of local and national dementia care developments. Nick Forsyth and Sean Weigand from Lambert Chapman made a formal presentation of their donation, as did Vicky Weavers, who is proving a kind and enthusiastic champion of our cause.

It was good to have the Braintree and Witham Times there; they got the message slightly wrong, omitting to mention that the centre is for those with dementia as well as their carers, but otherwise gave us a good write-up and photo.

We are delighted to welcome Georgina (usually known as George) White to join the team. George started her care career in Sussex where she is originally from. She has many years experience of working in care settings for older people and people with dementia. She will be working with us two days a week initially, but we hope to be seeing more of her as we continue to grow.

Our accountants Lambert Chapman also adopted us as their chosen charity this year. Lambert Chapman has a long history of charitable giving, donating the proceeds of a cricket match in the summer and a quiz evening in the autumn. The cricket match (between Braintree Tradesmen and Police) raised the wonderful sum of £2092 this year. The quiz evening attracted a number of teams (not least of which was one from Essex Dementia Care which, dare we say it, came last and won the wooden spoon!) and raised £825. Again, most of the contributors to this amazing gift are unknown to us, but we thank them all for their kindness and generosity.