Dementia Adventure Launches Innovative Dementia-Inclusive ‘Green Letter Days’

Charity Dementia Adventure is launching a series of ‘Green Letter Day’ dementia-inclusive ‘adventures’ – such as walking cricket and flower arranging – to foster social inclusion and to improve mental health for those living with dementia and their family, friends and carers.

The experiences are all designed around the revitalising power of nature and the great outdoors, reflecting the ethos of Dementia Adventure, a charity dedicated to enhancing the lives of those affected by dementia through nature-based activities.

Green Letter Days will be run in partnership with well-established sports and leisure companies. Dementia Adventure bring dementia expertise, offering guidance, training, and volunteers to ensure activities are inclusive and accessible. The charity works alongside partners who are experts in their field, with each bringing the staff, equipment, and specialist knowledge needed to deliver high-quality experiences that are suitable and inclusive for people living with dementia.

Middlesex County Cricket Club is one of Dementia Adventure’s first Green Letter Day partners and it will be hosting one of the first official Green Letter Day events at Lord’s Cricket Ground on September 8 for a Championship cricket match between Middlesex and Derbyshire County Cricket Clubs.

Plans for other Green Letter Day experiences and partners include golf days with Golf in Society, online flower arranging workshops with Freddie’s Flowers, allotment adventures at the Jubilee Allotments in Essex, Love-All tennis days with the Herts Foundation, a special day at the lake and picnic, hosted by Another Place in Ullswater, boat trips with WetWheels, and multigenerational family adventure days in partnership with PGL.

Thanks to funders like Sport England and gifts-in-kind from partners, Dementia Adventure is able to make the majority of Green Letter Days free. Some will require a small charge to cover essential costs only, with the aim of keeping the events as accessible as possible.

Fiona Petit, Chief Executive at Dementia Adventure, says:
“This new initiative that takes its inspiration from Red Letter Days will allow families impacted by dementia to be able to live more active and fulfilled lives. With a range of activities on offer, we hope they will be able to find something of interest or an activity that might reignite a past passion or start a new one.

“Our ambition is that Green Letter Days will become a model for dementia-inclusive events, kickstarting a wave of programming and influencing best practice across tourism, leisure and community engagement.”

Dementia Adventure has been piloting Green Letter Day cricket events with Middlesex CCC for over a year, refining the experience based upon feedback from families that attended. Of the 107 people that attended from May to September 2024, 75% reported they were very satisfied with the day and 25% were satisfied.  85% of carers expressed an interest in attending more community events, with one commenting “Being here today has shown us how many possibilities there still are. It has really changed our perspective”. Another added: “Today gave me the confidence to try more activities with my partner. It was well-supported, and I felt less pressure.”

Julie Blakesley, Membership Secretary at Middlesex CCC says:
“We are enormously proud to once again be supporting Dementia Adventure. We are thrilled to be able to get behind their brilliant Green Letter Days initiative by inviting those impacted by dementia to Lord’s, with their families and loved ones, to enjoy a calm and relaxing day watching the nation’s favourite summer sport. Dementia has a profound impact on the lives of so many people, including many of our own members, so supporting such a worthwhile initiative, like Green Letter Days, is really important to us as a Club, and we’ve seen at firsthand, from previous events we’ve supported, what a positive impact it can have on the lives of those living with dementia.”