Our Artistic Director, Rachael Savage, attended her first meeting of the Prime Minister’s Rural Dementia Task and Finish Group at Westminster this week. Along with Peter Knott, Head of West Midlands Arts Council, she has been invited to be part of the group as a representative of the arts.

The group’s remit is to explore how people living with dementia, their carers and families can be supported in their rural communities, undertaking work that confronts the challenges of loneliness, isolation and stigma.

At her first meeting, Rachael was able to share the successes of our recent Strategic Touring Project, undertaken to encourage people living with dementia and their carers to come to the theatre and acting as a catalyst for further and sustained activity for people living with dementia in theatres nationwide. Rachael also shared the fantastic work of our partner venues, including Aylesbury Waterside Theatre’s ambitious scheme to make its town Dementia Friendly; Corn Exchange, Newbury’s ‘sit with me’ initiative (amongst many other things); and the RSC’s establishment of a regular and well-attended Dementia Café.

Being part of the group is a fantastic opportunity to make sure that the findings of our Strategic Touring Project are shared more widely, and to help turn some of the dementia-friendly initiatives that our partner venues have undertaken into real change on a national level. It will also bring a voice from the arts to an important element of the government’s strategic approach to dementia.