A MUCH-VALUED Droitwich service providing support for people living with dementia is set to return full-time next year after organisers secured funding.
The Droitwich Spa Meeting Centre, based at the town’s rugby club, offers a specialised programme for people with dementia including informative discussion groups, support with practical, emotional and social issues and regular one-to-one advice.
Organisers have confirmed a new partnership with Age UK Herefordshire and Worcestershire and sufficient funding will be provided to secure the service for a year on a full-time basis from January 3, 2018.
Sessions will be held from 10.30am to 3.30pm on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.
After a two-year partnership with the Alzheimer’s Society ended in August there were fears for the centre’s future but it continued to provide the service under the management of Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO), a group formed by residents and carers.
CIO chairman Coun Alan Humphries said: “It has taken us a few months to get to this stage and to find a new partner but we have done it.
“The service will return next year and it will go back to what it was.
“This is great news for the Droitwich community as this much-valued meeting centre provides people living with Dementia and their family and carers access to support, advice and respite to enhance their daily lives.”
The revolutionary service, the first of its kind in the UK, has been delivered since September 2015 as part of an EU project entitled MeetingDem which included pilots in Poland and Italy and is also successful in the Netherlands.
Philip Talbot, CEO of Age UK Herefordshire and Worcestershire, said the organisation was delighted to be delivering the programme.
“This is an exciting next step for the meeting centre, the people of Droitwich Spa and especially for its members – people living with dementia and their carers and family.
“We look forward to welcoming new members, the wider community and helping people to live well with dementia”.
The Droitwich Spa Centre is open from 10.30am to 3.30pm on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays at Droitwich Spa Rugby Club.
Contact Coun Alan Humphries at [email protected] for more information and to find out how to donate and volunteer.
