Ottery Help Scheme has been given £13,200 of funding to set up a Dementia Action Alliance.

Sidmouth Herald: Keith Portlock OBE QPM, Chairman of the Ottery Help Scheme. Picture: Ottery Help SchemeKeith Portlock OBE QPM, Chairman of the Ottery Help Scheme. Picture: Ottery Help Scheme (Image: Archant)

The charity bid for East Devon District Council’s Communities Together fund to set up the alliance and also to support the running of roaming memory cafes.

Of the funding total, 20 per cent came from Ottery Town Council, Ottery and District Hospital League of Friends and the Otter Vale Rotary Club.

The Dementia Action Alliance will deliver training sessions and advice for local businesses and organisations to enable the town and district to achieve dementia-friendly status.

Staff and volunteers at Ottery Help Scheme will set up a rotational series of memory cafes in smaller villages within the district, making support more accessible to people in rural areas.

East Devon District Councillor Roger Giles said: “This excellent project will benefit many people in Ottery and the surrounding communities.

“I offer my heartiest congratulations to the Ottery Help Scheme, and to other people who have been involved in delivering such a valuable service.”

Keith Portlock OBE QPM, chairman of the Ottery Help Scheme, told the Herald: “This scheme will enable our community to take a major step forward in our aim of building a much needed dementia friendly environment across all our towns and villages.

“The Ottery Help Scheme is delighted we now have the necessary funds to take a lead role in managing the scheme and we all owe a debt of gratitude to those mentioned below for making this possible”.

Alzheimer’s Society describes a dementia friendly-town as one where people with dementia are understood, respected and supported.

The charity says too many people affected by dementia feel society fails to understand the condition they live with, its impact or how to interact with them, and that’s why people with dementia feel they need to withdraw from the community around them.

The Help Scheme will be setting up a Steering Group during April that will help guide the development of the Dementia Action Alliance.

If you are interested in being involved, please telephone Emily at Ottery Help Scheme 01404 813041.