A MEETING will be held in Ludlow as part of moves to have the town declared ‘dementia friendly.’

Ludlow Dementia Action Alliance is holding the meeting at Hagley Place, next to the Co-op service station, on Thursday, August 30, to discuss the next phase of making Ludlow a more dementia friendly town.

“It’s estimated that there are around 73,500 people in the West Midlands who have dementia,” said Vivienne Parry, who chairs the group.

“In Ludlow we have a higher proportion of elderly residents than most of Shropshire and we need to take action now to support residents affected by this condition.”

Some 30 businesses and interested parties have been invited to this meeting to discuss how they can work together to make Ludlow dementia friendly.

“Over the last six months we have produced a leaflet written by Mike Beazley, administrator, which explains how we work with other groups to help carers and dementia sufferers but there is much more to be done,” added Mrs Parry, who is a member of Ludlow Town Council and represents Ludlow South on Shropshire Council.

In addition, George Rook Chair of the Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin Action Alliance and Kat Horner, Dementia Friendly Communities Officer for the West Midlands, have been invited to a further meeting in early September.

It was last year that the work started in a bid to give Ludlow dementia friendly status.

This has involved liaison with the Alzheimer’s Society. The decision to seek this for the town was driven by the fact that Ludlow has an elderly and ageing population with a significant number of people with a dementia diagnosis.

But Vivienne Parry says that there are likely to be other cases where people are suffering but have not received a formal diagnosis of the condition. So far, a help line has been set up where sufferers and their family and carers can get advice on where to go for help.

Whilst younger people can suffer from dementia, it is largely a condition that is associated with getting older. There are a variety of symptoms, but the illness usually involves loss of short term memory for the sufferer.

For more information about how to get involved contact Viv Parry, telephone 01584873604 or e-mail Viv.parry@gmail.com or Mike Beasley 01584873570 Mike.beazley@hotmail.co.uk