Sensory trail excursion another first

THE first official excursion to Ballarat’s sensory trail for people living with dementia will take place late this month.

The event, organised by Bigger Hearts Dementia Alliance Ballarat and Parks Victoria, is scheduled for Tuesday 30 September from 10.30am to 12pm.

The trail – officially known as the Dementia Friendly Forest and Sensory Trail – is part of the Woowookarung Regional Park in Canadian and was opened in 2021.

It was initiated by Anne Tudor, an advocate for dementia-friendly communities and co-founder of the alliance.

Alliance secretary Glenda Hipwell said the excursion was already fully booked, but others will be held and people can register their interest via email on [email protected].

She said the event was being billed as a citizens’ science excursion.

“They’ll be looking for the different bird and animal life that is living there,” Ms Hipwell said.

She said it was an important event because it would show that people living with dementia “can be out in the community and doing things that are valuable.”

Ms Hipwell said response to the trail, which is the first of its kind in Australia, had been extraordinary.

“We’ve had people contact us from all over the world…to get the blueprints for setting one up in their communities,” she said.

Built by Parks Victoria, the 1.2-kilometre trail was co-designed with people living with dementia and their carers, Ballarat community health groups, the Department of Health and Dementia Australia.

It is accessible for wheelchairs and carers, assistance dogs, and groups from residential aged care facilities, and offers visitors an experience in nature that can be enjoyed in different ways.

“It’s been a very popular thing,” Ms Hipwell said. “We get around 60,000 visitors a year.”

She said a group of between six and 10 people would participate in the 30 September excursion.

“We don’t have enough people – we’re all volunteers – to supervise and manage [large groups of] people with dementia out there on their own,” she said.

“There will be more of it, and we’ll get more organised where we can have more volunteers there to walk with people.”

The alliance runs six programs for people with dementia and their carers, including the very popular Bigger Hearts Choir.

National Dementia Action Week is now on until 21 September.