North Yorkshire charity's dementia training for cabbies hits New York

Dementia Forward has exported its expertise across the Pond to the Big Apple, where taxi drivers in the city are to be given dementia awareness training. The charity was approached by a group in the city who had heard about the training it offered to more than 200 licensed taxi drivers in Richmond.

Trainer Fiona Andrews said they were astonished when they were contacted by the New York group. She said: “We thought at first it was someone’s idea of a joke. But this group of ladies over there are really passionate about dementia awareness and wanted to spread the word to taxi drivers in New York. So we held a Zoom training session with them, and they were so enthusiastic about rolling it out for their taxi drivers. They’re going to keep in touch and let us know how it is going, but we feel so proud that our small North Yorkshire charity has inspired such a wonderful group of people over there.”

The charity carried out the training in Richmond after being approached by the daughter of a dementia sufferer. Her father had become fixated on returning to his home town in the Midlands and had approached a taxi driver in the town. The driver turned down the fare but if the gentleman had asked to go to Darlington he may have agreed and the elderly man could have been left alone and confused. The story appeared in the Darlington and Stockton Times, and in New York they read about it on website Linkedin

“In rural areas especially, taxis can be a lifeline and knowing that the drivers have had training and will understand the issues of living with dementia is reassuring for families,” said Fiona. “The feedback from taxi drivers was really good.

“To be able to get that message out to places like New York is so encouraging, we thought they would have something similar but they obviously haven’t. This can be done without people having to spend a large amount of money, and it gives people confidence.”

lContact Dementia Forward on 03300 578592.