National UK Prizewinners

For well over a decade, Dementia Community has proudly celebrated the people, projects, and partnerships that make a real difference in the lives of those living with dementia.

Intergenerational Award

The UK Dementia Awards 2026 continue this tradition—recognising excellence, compassion, and innovation across care, community, and creativity.  It celebrates initiatives that bring generations together, fostering understanding, joy, and mutual support across age groups.

The awards are judged by a panel of dementia experts, including people with lived experience, ensuring that every nomination is seen, valued, and understood.

The Intergenerational Award celebrates initiatives that bring generations together, fostering understanding, joy, and mutual support across age groups.

A Gala Lunch

The Quilters Federation of Schools is the named winner of the award, which was presented at a Gala Lunch Award Celebration rooted in connection and community.  Far from the glitz and glamour of typical awards nights, this event fostered a heartfelt atmosphere where stories were shared, achievements are genuinely acknowledged, and people, including those with lived experience, come together to appreciate the work that truly matters. It’s a space for recognising achievement with authenticity—where the focus is on impact and where everyone leaves feeling re-energised and truly valued for the difference they make in the dementia community.

But it is really an award for the whole Billericay Dementia Friendly Community where intergenerational links flourish and everyone works together to try to improve the lives of people living with dementia and their families.

Quilters Children Excel

The sight of Quilters pupils engaging warmly with the community has become part of the town’s identity—a reminder that kindness is contagious and that young people can raise the spirits of an entire generation.   Thank you to everyone in Billericay who has spent time with Quilter’s children.

The Criteria for the Award

Meaningful initiatives bringing together different generations.

In both Infants and Junior schools there is an unwavering commitment to enabling children to become kind, empathetic communicators across the generations.    Meeting regularly with older people across the town is very strongly embedded in the ethos, values and day-to-day experience for all children.    The breadth and depth of Quilters’ Intergenerational work was key in why they won the award.   
Evidence of fostering mutual understanding, joy, and shared purpose
Whenever Quilters children and older people come together (and this is often) the connections, benefits, fun and joy experienced are always very evident.   So many of the older members of our community have commented on how much they enjoy spending time with the children and greatly look forward to the next time.   The judges were impressed with the way children and older people shared  happy conversations, played games together putting a smile on everyone’s face!

Demonstrated benefit to wellbeing for both younger and older participants

The many and important sustained intergenerational connections made by Quilters across Billericay’s  generations provide meaningful social interaction opportunities that combat social isolation and engender positive relationships.  The sense of well-being that this engenders to both older and young people is very  evident and impactful.  The Billericay  United in Kindness badge, developed by Quilters and other members of the Dementia Friendly Community, has been a recent impactful example.

Innovative approaches to shared activities, creativity, or learning.

Quilters has innovation and creativity firmly embedded at the heart of  their approach to the children’s wider education, including in their approach to establishing  intergenerational friendships and connections across and beyond the town.  The School is always looking for new and different ways to involve children in their community.   The children are similarly encouraged to take ownership and come up with their own ideas for innovation.  For example, when the Billericay Library was setting up a new Memory Café, children from Quilters RotaKids were  involved in the planning meeting  - they felt comfortable to suggest ideas  and give perspectives from their own experience to inform the way the Memory Café would run.

Quilters Schools are proud to nurture something truly special: children who recognise that kindness is powerful, that wellbeing is something we can actively grow and that community is built through connection, compassion and shared purpose.

Well done Quilters. Well done Billericay.
By Maureen Lee