Morella Kayman MBE
Jewish Care pays tribute to Morella Kayman MBE who sadly passed away on Monday 8 February.
Morella was Co-Founder and Vice President of Alzheimer’s Society and received an MBE in recognition of her services to health and social care. She brought Jewish Care and the Alzheimer’s Society closer and was also Co-Founder of the Alzheimer’s Disease Golf Society, raising funds for Jewish Care and Alzheimer’s Society so that Jewish Care could develop dementia services, including the dementia day centres and Memory Way Café’s which are now online today, as well as the support provided by the Social Work and Family Carers Support Team, who are always there to listen to, understand and support families living with the effects of dementia.
Morella pioneered the Singing for the Brain groups working together with both Alzheimer’s Society and Jewish Care and the groups now run successfully nationwide. It was the parent to Jewish Care’s Singing for Memory groups that run in our communities online today.
Morella was also responsible for the nationwide Dementia Friends programme. Jewish Care has given Dementia Friends sessions to hundreds of members of the community of all ages, in our synagogues, workplaces, schools and now virtually, to help us all to better understand what living with dementia is like and how we can adapt our environment and behaviour so that people living with dementia and their families can live well with dementia.
Jewish Care Chief Executive, Daniel Carmel-Brown, said:
“We were deeply saddened to hear the news of Morella passing away and our thoughts are with her family at this sad time. Morella was truly an amazing person and many of us at Jewish Care feel extremely grateful that we had the privilege to work with her. She was an exceptional person who had the vision to change the world around her for the better. Morella began campaigning in the 1970s at a time when dementia, as she said from her own experiences, ‘was something that was swept under the carpet’.
“She worked relentlessly to increase society’s understanding and knowledge of dementia so that people living with dementia and their families are not left to struggle alone. Morella made an incredible difference, not only in raising funds with the Alzheimer’s Disease Golf Society, but also in helping Jewish Care to develop our vital specialist dementia support services for thousands of people living with dementia and their carers’ in the community.
“Morella leaves behind an enormous legacy.”