The Yellows side visited the Provincial Alzheimer Charity centre in their first Endavant Igualtat activity of the 2019/20 season
A fantastic start full of unique moments. Villarreal’s U16s (Cadete A) carried out their first visit to the Provincial Alzheimer Charity (Asociación Provincial de Alzheimer), with whom they will work throughout the 2019/20 season.
The Yellows travelled to the Molí La Via day centre, where daily dozens of users affected by this mental illness go to. There, the Yellows had their first meeting with their new colleagues, helping them with a number of activities. The mental exercises were followed by an afternoon snack after that, both parties went out to stretch their legs and get some fresh air.
For the AFA (Asociación de Familiares de Enfermos de Alzheimer de la Provincia de Castellón – Association of Families of People with Alzheimer’s in the Province of Castellón) – the Endavant Igualtat is a cutting-edge initiative, which they have joined this year: “It seemed a great activity for us which could benefit both the users of our centre as well as the Villarreal players. For our old people, it helps them leave their routine a bit and work with younger people. It’s a breath of fresh air,” said the manager of the centre, Patricia Olmedo.
Alzheimer’s is the most common form of dementia in older people. It is a brain disorder which severely effects the ability of a person to carry out their daily routines. Because of that, with the aim of slowing down the deterioration, a number of people go to these centres so old people carry out cognitive therapy.
One of the players from the U16s, Álvaro Fernández, believes his first experience with the AFA users was valuable: “We’ve come to help them and give them a bit of company. We speak about their families and they tell us about their lives. Listening to them is enriching.”
There is so much demand for centres like this that the Molí La Vila Day Centre has started refurbishments to become a centre where people can stay too: “At the start of this year, we started with the expansion of the centre. It’s stopped at the moment, but we hope, that with public help we can continue building, as it’s a real need that we’re finding.”
