August 30 - Inauguration of the Ostrich Purple Angel Dementia Awareness Campaign

Tuesday 27th August was a big day for both the Ostrich team and the Torbay Dementia Action Alliance (TDAA). The Ostrich Team, with Laurence at its head, went down to Torbay to meet Norman McNamara, his wife Elaine and their fellow alliance member Lisa to launch this new initiative, the Ostrich Purple Angel Shop Awareness Campaign.

What makes this campaign different?

You can tell us that the Purple Angel logo isn't new (although less than a year old), and if you've been to Torquay or Babbacombe you probably spotted purple angel stickers in a fair number of shop windows. But what makes this campaign different is its scope. It is great to see that the Torbay area is becoming dementia friendly a bit more every day, and it's an amazing job that Norrms and the TDAA have done raising awareness of dementia in the area they live in. But what they lacked was the 'F word' as Norrms puts it, some Funding to allow the project to go global. And that's where we at Ostrich came into action. We started with 20,000 printed window stickers, and we have already ordered 20,000 more due to the demand!

Highlights of the inauguration

On the morning of Tuesday 27th August we met Norrms, Elaine and Lisa in the office of the Property Ladder Estate Agents in Paignton, who have agreed to be the first ones to proudly wear the Ostrich Purple Angel logo. We live tweeted the event so everyone could be there with us and follow this glorious moment. Norrms and Laurence did a phone interview on local radio Palm FM, and then a TV crew from ITV West Country came to witness the beginning of what promises to be a global campaign. Everyone was lovely, the atmosphere was relaxed and the feedback amazing. Norrms and Laurence were interviewed together and separately, and so was Stephen from Property Ladder, each explaining their reasons for joining the campaign, and why shops and retailers should be dementia aware. Norrms reminded the TV crew that every dementia organisation has a logo, but there is no global logo for dementia – or there wasn't, until the Purple Angel. Laurence said why it made sense for him to push Norrms' Purple Angel forward, as part of Ostrich's mission to connect care. Laurence also pledged to print as many Ostrich Purple Angel stickers as necessary to make this campaign a success, and Ostrich will also start printing very soon Ostrich Purple Angel car stickers. Stephen from Property Ladder gave some advice, such as simply taking your time and not rushing customers into making decisions, especially when it comes to buying a home.

The common goal of these men (with the support of amazing women out of the spotlight) is to create safe hubs on the high street to improve the daily lives of people with dementia.

Feedback and early outcomes

We were very pleased to have regional coverage of the Dementia Awareness Campaign, and to be able to explain what our goal is and what we're fighting for. Dementia is a lonely disease of the brain, that doesn't affect only the elderly, and it's important for every single one of us to learn more about it. Did you know that yellow is the best colour for dementia sufferers, and that blue carpets are to be avoided at all costs because they get mistaken for the sea? Most of us don't know these simple things that can seem silly but are dreadful for dementia sufferers. And this is why we must all learn together and fight together, so people with dementia can live as normal a life as possible. If yellow curtains can make a person with dementia feel safe, then why couldn't we have yellow curtains in every care home and hospital? And if funding is an issue, this could be arranged the next time the curtains need changing.

Being dementia aware can be a long process, but for retailers it can be as easy as reading and understanding our Guide to Dementia Awareness.

We have received demands from all over the world for dementia stickers, from Warrington, Cheshire to the USA, Australia and even Nepal, and we are really impressed and happy that Norrms' message can be sent out there in the whole world. Dementia is global, and so should the Purple Angel.

The Ostrich Purple Angel Ambassadors

We will soon be appointing 50 Ostrich Purple Angel ambassadors to help promote Dementia awareness in the UK. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Google+ to know more about the role and see if you could become one of our ambassadors! Alternatively, e-mail us [email protected].

Watch our interview on ITV West Country.