Neighbourhood Return

The Neighbourhood Return project aims to improve life for people with dementia and their carers by helping them to prepare for, and cope with, a common life changing event: getting lost.

Every year in England and Wales some 39,000 people start to wander and get lost due to dementia. Getting lost dramatically increases the risk of being admitted to a care home – from 15% over two years to 45% - and accounts for 12,000 to 18,000 care home admissions annually.

The Neighbourhood Return project involves the development of a volunteer network of people from the local community, including Neighbourhood Watch and Home Watch, who, if they receive a text or an email to say that a person with dementia is lost in their immediate neighbourhood, will go out and look for them. This project is being managed by Deborah Ginns.

Visit the Neighbourhood Return website.

Donate to the Neighbourhood Return project.

Service Manager Deborah Ginns talks to David Cameron about the Neighbourhood Return project.