Residents turn out in force to show their support

Moves to promote Axminster as a ‘dementia friendly town’ were given a major boost at a public meeting.

Local residents Sam Over and Shiobhan Pickering organised the event at the Guildhall to gather support for the campaign.

More than 80 people of all ages went along.

A spokeswoman said: “We had wonderful talks from Shiobhan, our dementia matron and Dr Phil Taylor one of our GPs.

“I think it is fair to say the absolute highlight of the night was hearing from those who are living with dementia. Two individuals chose to share their personal stories with us and I don’t think there was a dry eye in the house.

“We had some wonderful feedback and some great ideas were put forward of how people would like to see Axminster become a dementia friendly community. We also had many people sign up to join us as volunteers.

“It’s clear Axminster has a wonderful community spirit and we already have so many great services available to those living with dementia so now we are looking forward to building on these.”

The evening raised £40 which will be used to fund the next event.

Thanks were given to Mayor Jeremy Walden for paying for the hall hire, Potters funeral directors for supplying refreshments and Punch and Judy bakery for providing cakes.

For more information people can e mail the group dementiafriendlyaxminster@outlook.com

To find out more about the Dementia Action Alliance visit its website at https://www.dementiaaction.org.uk/