>News Story
13-19 May marks Dementia Action Week, and yesterday the CFT team delved into their wardrobes to ‘wear-it-blue’ to raise awareness of dementia and those affected by the condition. Providing a welcoming environment for everyone to access theatre at CFT is hugely important to us.
We are proud to offer a variety of Dementia Friendly activities, from our annual Dementia Friendly performance to regular workshops.
CFT's next Dementia Friendly performance is for Oliver! on Wednesday 31 July at 2.30pm. These performances are designed for people living with dementia to enjoy with their families, friends and carers.
Minor adjustments to the sound and lighting levels are made, audience members are welcome to come and go during the show, and we do a little recap after the interval to bring everyone up to speed before settling into the second act.
The Chatter Project is our creative storytelling project for adults aged 65+ designed to ignite imagination and share experiences, make friends and create theatre. These workshops aren’t just for people with dementia, but our practitioners are trained to make sure these sessions can be accessed by those living with the condition. Sessions run fortnightly during term time and are led by theatre practitioners from CFT, either in person, during a group workshop or 1-2-1 over the phone.
We currently run The Chatter Project groups in Tangmere, Chichester and Birdham.
Louise Rigglesford, Senior Community and Outreach Manager explains “More and more people are living with dementia, and it’s incredibly important that they are able to live well with dementia.”
George Ide LLP, the West Sussex solicitors, have been sponsoring CFT’s Dementia Friendly activities since 2022, and we would like to say a huge thank you for their continued support this year.
Ursula Watt, Partner & Head of Private Client department at George Ide says “We’re so pleased to sponsor Chichester Festival Theatre’s Dementia Friendly performances and other community outreach initiatives – supporting these projects is a perfect fit for us and we hope CFT’s important work in this area will bring real benefits to those coping with the multiple challenges of the condition.”
