A SCHEME to tackle perceptions of dementia has marked a major milestone in Dorset.

Dementia Friends Champions Anne Kings and Julie Hawkins delivered the county’s 1,000th Dementia Friends session at Gillingham Leisure Centre.

Alzheimer’s Society’s Dementia Friends programme aims to transform the way the nation acts, thinks and talks about the condition.

Anne, Julie and Mayor of Gillingham Barry von Clemens are leading the way in a bid to make Gillingham a dementia friendly community.

As part of this ambition Gillingham Leisure Centre hopes to hold a regular activity in the pool called ‘Swimming for the Brain’.

Anne said: “There is some great work going on in the local area. Julie has led on a fantastic piece of work where the bus timetables have been revised to show photographs of the buses rather than simply printing bus numbers.

"It is hoped that will help people recognise the right bus when it stops. Small changes like that could have a big impact for people with dementia and help them to remain independent for longer."

Anne and Julie, and other volunteer Dementia Friends Champions like them, help tackle the stigma and lack of understanding that means many people with the condition experience loneliness and social exclusion.

They deliver interactive face to face sessions where people learn more about dementia and pledge to take action to help people affected by the condition in their local community.

In Dorset there are 195 Champions who together have created an estimated 23,150 Dementia Friends.

There are more than 1.7million Dementia Friends in England and Wales and the Alzheimer’s Society want to reach even more people so that those with dementia feel understood and included in their community.

Anne said: “I decided to get involved in Dementia Friends because I saw how dementia affected my mother. I wanted to make a difference and get people talking about dementia.

"There’s been such a fantastic response in Gillingham. We’ve been inundated with requests for information sessions.

"It would be great to get more people on board as Champions so that we can reach as many people as possible and improve everyone’s understanding of the condition.”

To find out more visit dementiafriends.org.uk