Chartwell House and The Salvation Army Team Up On Dementia

Chartwell House by Boutique Care Homes, situated in Broadstairs, Kent, has joined forces with The Salvation Army Herne Bay to help the local community understand dementia a little better.

On 16 September 2026, Jaye Hurst, Admissions Manager at Chartwell House and an Alzheimer’s Society Dementia Friends Ambassador, visited The Salvation Army Herne Bay to deliver a Dementia Friends awareness session for its volunteers. The session gave them the chance to learn about dementia, to understand how it can affect people, and to explore what they can do to make their community more dementia-friendly.

Dementia touches far more people than many realise. Research commissioned by Alzheimer’s Society shows around a million people in the UK have a form of dementia, a figure projected to rise to 1.4 million by 2040. For those people, the difference a community makes can be huge. A neighbour who knows what confusion can look like, or a volunteer who feels confident starting a conversation, can decide whether someone keeps going out or quietly stops.

That is why Jaye, who is both a Dementia Friends Ambassador and part of the Chartwell House team, was keen to take the session out of the care home. “I feel incredibly proud to be able to use my roles as both an Alzheimer’s Society Dementia Friends Ambassador and Admissions Manager at Chartwell House Care Home to connect with organisations in our local community and help increase understanding of dementia,” she said.

The volunteers brought plenty of questions, and Jaye took the time to answer them. “It was a real pleasure to spend time with the volunteers at The Salvation Army Herne Bay, answer their questions and share knowledge and experiences that can hopefully make a positive difference to people living with dementia and their families,” she said.

Louise Banham, Community Mission Manager at The Salvation Army Herne Bay, said Jaye made the session easy to engage with. “Jaye was a great ambassador for The Alzheimer’s Society; engaging and informative, taking time to answer people’s questions and happy to share her own experiences.”

The relationship did not end with the session. On 8 October, Jaye returned to Herne Bay to see the Salvation Army’s work first-hand, arriving with tea and coffee donated on behalf of Chartwell House. It was a Thursday, which meant the Open House was in full swing. The Open House runs on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10:00 to 12:30, with free tea, coffee, toast and cakes and no financial contribution asked of anyone who comes through the door. On Thursdays, Snack and Chat follows from 12:30 to 13:00, with free vegetable soup, bread and butter and a short religious talk.

Jaye was also treated to some homegrown tomatoes, grown by one of the Salvation Army volunteers.

“It was lovely to see the community coming together in such a warm and welcoming environment,” she said. “The session showed dozens of local people enjoying the free organised craft activities and we hope they enjoy the tea and coffee donated on behalf of Chartwell House.”

Jaye and the team also talked about running further Dementia Friends sessions for new and future Salvation Army Herne Bay volunteers, so that what the first group learned carries on as the volunteer team changes.

“Building relationships like this is so important to us, and I’m looking forward to continuing our partnership and supporting future volunteers through Dementia Friends sessions,” said Jaye.

For Chartwell House, an award-winning residential and dementia care home, this kind of work is part of being a good neighbour. Boutique Care Homes believes the best way to show what good dementia care looks like is to share what its teams know with the people around them, and to let the care speak for itself.