The launch, held at Honiton Leisure Centre, raised more than £600 towards the group’s £150,000 target needed to employ an Admiral Nurse.
Honiton’s Admiral Nurse campaign has been officially launched at an event put on by the town’s dementia action alliance.
The launch, held at Honiton Leisure Centre, raised more than £600 towards the group’s £150,000 target needed to employ an Admiral Nurse.
Heather Penwarden, chair of the action alliance, said: “A huge thank-you goes to everyone who helped out and attended our Honiton Admiral Nurse launch.
“We managed to raise a whopping £608.81 - together I am sure we will achieve our target and start being able to provide families in Honiton with the specialist dementia help an Admiral Nurse can bring.”
As part of the day, the Honiton Admiral Nurse steering group had a stall in the market handing out leaflets and raising awareness about the role of an Admiral Nurse along with a table at Honiton Leisure Centre where they were based for the day.
Tesco held a ‘healthy raffle’, which was won by Paul Wilson and staff were on hand offering refreshments to gym users throughout the day.
On the same day, Honiton Leisure Centre opened the doors of its newly-refurbished gym and offered free sessions for all leisure centre facilities asking instead for a donation to the fund.
In the afternoon there was taster ballroom dancing sessions on offer from local instructor Glenn Bayliss with the day being rounded off with folk dancing led by caller Rosie Shaw and the Ivor Hyde Band.
Heather added: “The day was a huge success and a brilliant start to our campaign. “Not only did we manage to raise a healthy sum but it was a great example of how our community can pull together to support a local cause.
“With one in three of us knowing someone who has dementia this is a cause close to our hearts and that showed through in the many conversations we had through the day with people who were affected one way or another by dementia.”
Working in partnership with Dementia UK, the Honiton Admiral Nurse campaign aims to raise £150,000 to bring the specialist dementia support to Honiton.
“We know this is a real challenge but we believe, with your help and support, we can get there together,” Heather added.
Donate online via www.justgiving.com/honitonadmiralnurse
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