The dementia awareness group, which hosted a special workshop in Radstock at SWAN Transport in January, and is based in Peasedown St John have received a £1,000 cash boost, thanks to one of the village's local councillors.

Councillor, Sarah Bevan (Independent, Peasedown) awarded the grant from her Ward Councillor's Empowerment Fund – a pot of money set aside to support community projects.

She said: "Dementia affects us all at some point in our lives, whether directly or indirectly.

There are currently 800,000 people across the UK living with the condition, and that number is set to rise to 2 million by 2050.

If you are over 80, there is a 1 in 6 chance you'll be diagnosed with dementia, and a 33% chance if you're over 90."

The funding has been allocated to 'Dementia Friendly Peasedown', an initiative launched in March 2018 to help villagers learn more about it and how we can create a dementia-friendly community.

Over the last two years, more than 100 residents have attended a workshop run by the organisation.

Project manager, Nathan Hartley, said: "We've been running events, workshops and carol services on a shoestring budget since we started. We've had some local businesses supporting our printing costs and other admin expenses, but we've really struggled without a budget of our own."

The funding from B&NES Council will go towards new dementia-awareness activities, venue hire costs and new literature later in the year.

For more information about Dementia Friendly Peasedown email Nathan Hartley at [email protected].

You can also visit their Facebook page here: their FB page