Religious congregations have been invited to participate in the national, annual event linking parishes and schools around the country in prayer for those suffering from dementia. With an estimated 800,000 individuals in England and Wales affected in various ways by dementia, a new prayer card, sponsored by the Day for Life Fund, aims to offer hope.
Dementia Prayer Week is now in its eleventh year and is an opportunity to create a sense of purpose and meaning. Organiser Frances Molloy of the Pastoral Care Project said: “Our hope is that the new prayer card will encourage people to visit a care home or family and that it will equip them once they are there. You may just be the answer to a person’s prayer: "God help me" a familiar cry of the poor, which can be our prayer too!”
Online resources have also been made available. For example, a new word search activity is a reminder of the difficulty the individual with dementia may experience in searching for the right word to say. Redemptorist Publications collaborated on the design of the prayer card and have made the card available on their website: https://www.rpbooks.co.uk
Giselle Beaumont of Redemptorist Publications said: “Our mission is to support people at every stage of Christian life so working with the Pastoral Care Project is the perfect partnership for us! Learning about the work that they have been carrying out for 25 years and the success of Dementia Prayer Week has been both inspiring and encouraging. We hope our small contribution will help this mission to grow even further and help more people.”
For further information email: info@pastoralcareproject.org.uk or phone 01675 434035
Website: www.pastoralcareproject.org.uk