A new support centre aimed at helping dementia patients and their carers opened its doors last week.

Evesham and District Meeting Centre, on Church Street, was able to open on Thursday 2 June after receiving funding from Worcestershire County Council.

The centre is managed by Evesham & District Mental Health Support Services and manager Sally Dance is excited about what the new site can offer.

She said: “We want to provide a safe environment and support services for both the person and their carer.

“It is a difficult time, accepting the changes that come with a diagnosis like that.

“It is important to live life well. We focus on what you still can do and not what you can’t.”

Mrs Dance said that they will aim to provide support to eight people and their carers each day for the first year but will look to increase this as the years go by.

She added: “By year three we hope that we will be supporting 15 people and their carers each day but it is not about numbers. It is really about the quality of service you provide.”

Meeting centres are a concept first developed in the Netherlands before being introduced to the UK by University of Worcester's Association for Dementia Studies (ADS).

Director of the ADS professor Dawn Brooker said: “Meeting Centres have been proven to be a great way of supporting those with dementia to have the best quality of life.

“Worcestershire is the first local authority in the country to make provision for this vital community support which we believe could be a real game changer.”

Evesham and District Meeting Centre will open three days a week, Monday to Thursday, from 10am till 3pm and more information can be found on their website https://edmhss.org/.