Dementia friendly walks around Exeter
Published: 21 July 2022
A series of eight walks around Exeter, designed for people with dementia and their families is available online.
COSY Routes were launched in 2020 by the City Council backed Exeter Dementia Alliance.
Exeter Dementia Alliance is the chosen charity of the current Lord Mayor of Exeter, Cllr Yolonda Henson.
Last year COSY Routes were featured on the BBC’s Songs of Praise, showcasing Exeter’s beautiful hills, valleys, and viewpoints around the city.
Cosy Routes is a mapped 26.2-mile marathon distance route around the city, comprising eight shorter circular routes of between four and seven miles.
It was created by keen runner and walker Jo Earlam, a board member of the alliance, and with experience of dementia through three generations of family.
Gina Awad, Founder and lead of EDAA and Jo connected several years ago through their shared passion for making a difference in the lives of people with dementia and their families as well raising awareness and inspiring action.
They got together to reflect on ideas for a new initiative that could be accessible for everyone as well as people with dementia and their families and would involve the outdoors and opportunity to enjoy nature. Shortly after, Exeter COSY routes was born.
Varying from four to seven miles, these routes all have their own character, points of interest, history and are part of the unfolding and growing picture of the city. Each route has a dementia accessible suggestion, which may be a short stroll, picnic stop, or viewpoint.
Tony Husband, Cartoonist for Private Eye collaborated with the alliance and created a number of unique cartoons to accompany a significant point of interest on each of the eight routes.
People are invited to share their pictures, stories or reflections out and about on the walks. Whilst being outside is vital for us all for people with dementia it’s even more crucial.
For more information and full route details visit https://exetercosyroutes.wordpress.com/about/
To find out more about EDAA visit www.exeterdementia.org.uk