This year’s Stray Ferret Christmas Appeal is to raise money for a minibus for Dementia Forward in the Harrogate district. 

The appeal is kindly sponsored by Vida Healthcare.

Please give generously to support local people and their families living with dementia. Let’s not forget who needs our help this Christmas.

Today, we’re urging our readers to dedicate a donation to a loved one.

Many families have lost a loved one to dementia or know someone who is currently living with it – it’s a totally indiscriminate condition.

People are losing their lives to dementia every day and those around them are forced to watch their loved one slip away.

That’s why we’re urging Stray Ferret readers to dedicate a donation to your loved one as part of our Christmas Appeal for Dementia Forward.

All you need to do is donate whatever you can to the appeal. Leave a message when donating and tell us who you are dedicating your donation to.

You can email contact@thestrayferret.co.uk with a photo of your loved one, and we will post it on our social media channels.

The Stray Ferret’s founder, Tamsin O’Brien, lost her father to dementia earlier this year. She dedicated her donation to him:

“My wonderful father, David O’Brien, died this year – a few days short of his 93rd birthday. He was the most loving dad and he is much missed.

“In truth though, we lost him years earlier to Alzheimers disease and his last years were very difficult.

“Sadly, my mother also has this awful disease.

“People like my father and mother and their carers need extra support and joy in their lives. Dementia Forward provide this. Please support our Christmas Appeal.”

The Stray Ferret hopes to raise £30,000 for Dementia Forward to fund a new minibus.

Dementia Forward’s current bus is old and urgently needs to be replaced. The charity would seriously struggle to afford a new one, which is why they need your help to keep this vital service going. Without it, many people living with dementia wouldn’t be able to access the help and support they need.

Every donation to our campaign will go directly to Dementia Forward, helping us hit our target to buy the charity a new minibus and improving the lives of those living with dementia and the people around them.

We know times our tough, but please dig deep and give generously. Let’s not forget those who need our help this Christmas.

Thank you.

A Pateley Bridge dance group that serves tea and cake in between dances is hosting a fundraising charity event.

The Pateley Bridge Tea Dance will host a Time for a Cuppa event, a national scheme run by DementiaUK to raise funds for families facing dementia, in May.

The event will include dancing as usual, as well as cake stalls and refreshments to raise money.

The group, which has been running for 23 years, has hosted a variety of charity dances in the past – raising £90,000 since its birth.

Charity recipients include The Salvation Army, Marie Curie, Yorkshire Air Ambulance, and local sports clubs.

The weekly dances, which attract about 30 people, take place in the Memorial Hall and include a range of dances, including sequence, waltz, quickstep, and foxtrot.

Older members feel a sense of nostalgia through the music, which is predominantly wartime and show music. The dance occasionally has live music too, particularly in summer.

The weekly dances take place from 2pm – 4pm on Tuesday afternoons, with a tea and biscuit break in the middle.

The group has danced its way across the North and has taken trips to Blackpool, Scarborough, and Whitby.

Claire Green, daughter of the group’s treasurer, said:

“Whoever wants to come and join in is always very welcome.

“This group is a lifeline for some of the members”.

Brian Weatherhead, treasurer, said:

“If it hadn’t been for the founders, John O’Brien and Pauline Atkinson, the group would’ve ended.

“The dance club has been a team effort the whole way through”.

The Time for a Cuppa event will take place on Tuesday, May 2, at Pateley Bridge Memorial Hall.

Find more information here.

A Harrogate fundraiser has dedicated the past decade collecting for Marie Curie after the charity’s nurses helped her to care for her father.

When her dad was diagnosed with cancer 11 years ago, Tracey D’Alessandro-Rixon was bringing up three small children, aged five months, seven and nine.

Marie Curie’s nurses stepped in and supported her during evenings, which allowed her time to look after her young family and get some rest.

She said:

“I had very young kids. My husband worked away and they gave me a lot of support on evenings so I could get some sleep.

“Dad had dementia and would want to play football at 10pm at night. The nurses were just amazing. One of them used to make me a cake each week as well.

“Marie Curie nurses are an amazing breed.”

Ms D’Alessandro-Rixon is now a registered volunteer for Marie Curie and member of the Harrogate fundraising group.

Read more:

• ‘Everybody matters’: Marie Curie’s UK medical director on why she has the ‘best job in the world‘
• Former nurse who helped raise millions for Marie Curie remains passionate about charity after 25 years
• ‘I never tire of seeing families look after their own well’: Senior nurse on 25 years at Marie Curie

Since her father’s death, both she and her children have helped to raise thousands for the charity.

She said:

“My children used to do daffodil weeks with me and have continued to do it for quite a few years. Especially my son, because it is his way of doing his thing for his granddad. It left quite a hole in his life when his granddad died. He wanted to help others to get some help. He likes to do it every year.”

Ms D’Alessandro-Rixon said Marie Curie provided a very important service.

She said:

“I couldn’t have looked after my dad like I did if I hadn’t had that help. As he had Alzheimer’s, for me it was the wrong thing to stick him in respite.

“Because of their help, I was able to keep him at home which was really important for my dad. It was a place where he felt happy.”

Fundraiser

The Marie Curie Brain Game is returning to Yorkshire for a fourth time on Thursday, January 26 and for the first time in Harrogate in the newly refurbished Majestic Hotel & Spa.

Guests will be treated to a drinks reception before enjoying a gourmet three-course dinner. The celebrity-hosted quiz will run throughout the evening and guests will also have the opportunity to bid for exclusive lots in the live and silent auctions, and win prizes in the grand raffle.

This black-tie event invites companies from across Yorkshire to come and enjoy an evening of brain-teasing entertainment and battle it out in the ultimate corporate quiz to be crowned Yorkshire Brain Game champions.

To book a table, click here.