An appeal to bring an Admiral Nurse to the valley has been given a £10,000 boost by Sidmouth Hospiscare.

The generous donation means the Sid Valley Memory Café’s campaign – in partnership with the Herald – has nearly reached a quarter of its ambitious £100,000 target.

Public support is needed to bring a service to the area that will greatly help a rising number of people living with dementia and their families.

Dr Barry Lowden, chairman of Sidmouth Hospiscare, said: “We are very pleased to make this contribution towards the funding of an Admiral Nurse for Sidmouth and look forward to working further with the memory cafe in this important new project.

“Sidmouth Hospiscare is an independent charity providing 24-hour palliative care nurse support and visiting for those with life-limiting illnesses, in the Sid Valley and surrounding area. We believe the appointment of an Admiral Nurse will greatly enhance the range of specialist care services available to our local community.”

Adrian Ford, a trustee of the Sid Valley Memory Café, said: “We really appreciate this very generous £10,000 contribution from Sidmouth Hospiscare, which gives our campaign a huge boost. This donation takes our funds raised to over £24,000 and puts us well on the way to achieving our target of raising £100,000 by the end of the year to cover the first two years’ costs of an Admiral Nurse for the Sid Valley.

“Our Admiral Nurse will be available to support families from the point of diagnosis, throughout the dementia journey, concentrating on their involvement during the transitions of care until the end of life. They aim to join up the different parts of the health and social care system and enable the needs of family carers and people with dementia to be addressed in a co-ordinated way. The support of Sidmouth Hospiscare is consequently enormously important to us.”

An Admiral Nurse - a specialist dementia nurse, supported by Dementia UK - will provide unique practical and emotional care and support to family carers, as well as the person living with dementia. By funding an Admiral Nurse for our area, it will help ensure that family, friends or neighbours in the Sid Valley do not have to face the frightening diagnosis of dementia alone.