Greenwich Leisure Limited (Better)
Better is one of the UK's leading leisure brands and is owned by GLL, one of the UK’s leading not-for-profit charitable social enterprises. At Better, we base everything we do on four key pillars: Better people, better communities, better service and better business. We've seen brilliant results in the communities that we’re a part of. We reinvest every single penny of our financial surplus back into improving the services we offer – and the communities that we serve. In fact, we’ve reinvested over £100m to date. And we want to keep investing more. We work with our partners including local councils and National Governing Bodies and the likes of Sport England; to help give everyone a happier, healthier life. We invest heavily in making our children’s centres welcoming, fun places to go. We’re constantly making our leisure centres more accessible, welcoming places, where everyone can work on getting fit and healthy. We’re putting time and money into making our libraries amazing places to think, learn, read and develop. We are owned entirely by our staff and Society members, each of whom owns a non-dividend-paying share in the business. Which means our workforce is empowered, motivated and involved in making the big decisions that affect our business; because we believe that social values are just as important as financial performance.

- Updated:
- 21 March 2017
- Location:
- London
- Sectors:
- Health, Membership Organisations, Recreation
- Local Alliances:
- Ealing Dementia Action Alliance
1. Action Plan
1. The National Dementia Declaration lists seven outcomes that the DAA are seeking to achieve for people with dementia and their carers. How would you describe your organisation’s role in delivering better outcomes for people with dementia and their carers?
Better are committed to creating facilities and environments that are welcoming and open to all.
People with dementia shouldn’t have to face barriers to participation and Better are always looking for ways to work with partners and local communities to help create clear pathways for users from all demographics.
Through training our staff, adapting existing services to become more dementia friendly and working with likeminded organisations we hope to establish clear healthy living and social environments for our local communities with dementia.
2. What are the challenges to delivering these outcomes from the perspective of your organisation?
Our challenge will be to work closer in with specific user groups to understand their needs and barriers to participating.
Public facilities can be seen as daunting places to visit and are often very busy. We aim to create an environment that is relaxing and welcoming to those accessing the pool, whether this is their first time or they are returning to swimming.
Member website
http://www.better.org.uk/areas/ealing2. Actions
-
All frontline & management staff to attend Dementia Friends Information Sessions
All frontline and management staff at the centres in Ealing will complete the Dementia Friends training. They will then become recognised Dementia Friends.
- Status:
- Completed
-
Communications Day
we will hold an annual communications day for all staff where we will capture people who are new and need a Dementia Friends session, and we will also use the day to signpost people to the Alzheimer's Society if they have questions about dementia and/or are caring for someone living with dementia.
- Status:
- Planning
-
Installing a Dementia Champion
Installing a ‘Dementia Champion’ across the borough who can be a point of contact for further information on access to our centres and if needs be arrange for introductions into the centre. This role would also include risk assessing centres to highlight and document areas within the building or issues that might be considered high risk for those with dementia.
- Status:
- Planning
-
Outreach and Working in Partnership
As part of our delivery plan we have been engaging with local community groups who currently provide a service for those living with dementia. We hope that through this we can publicise this service to more people and encourage them to use our centres.
- Status:
- Implementation