TWO new meeting centres for those living with dementia are set to be launched in Bromsgrove and Redditch, thanks to a county-wide funding programme.

In January 2020, Worcestershire County Council and the six district councils announced they would be investing £540,000 from the county’s Business Rates Retention Pilot to help set up specialist dementia meeting centres.

In 2021, funding for meeting centres in six places in Worcestershire including Kidderminster and Stourport was approved by the joint University of Worcester and Worcestershire County Council Assessment Panel.

Now funding for two further centres has been approved – for Bromsgrove and Redditch.

University of Worcester fellow, Dorothy Wilson, independent chair of the panel said: “The panel was delighted to be able to approve funding for another two centres.

“We look forward to building on the experience of established meeting centres to support the new centres and create opportunities for more people living with dementia and family carers across the county.”

Julia Neal, CEO of Age UK Herefordshire & Worcestershire said: “We are delighted to be awarded this grant and are looking forward to developing the new meeting centres in Bromsgrove and Redditch over the next few months.  

“Our established meeting centres in Droitwich, Kidderminster and Stourport have shown us what a difference this support can make to those with dementia and their families, especially the opportunity to be able to share and learn from others in similar situations as themselves.  

“We are really excited about being able to extend our support to people living with dementia in the Bromsgrove and Redditch areas and working with our partners at Age UK Bromsgrove Redditch and Wyre Forest and Sanctuary Care to make this happen”.

Meeting centres were originally developed in the Netherlands and were brought to the UK by the University of Worcester’s Association for Dementia Studies.