Lottery Community Fund Grant Means Extended Hours for Dementia Charity
A National Lottery Community Fund grant of over £35,000 is great news for the Dementia Friendly Keighley charity in Yorkshire, England. It will allow them to extend the opening hours of their advice and information shop.
Additional Opening Hours
The charity opened its shop in the local Airedale Shopping Centre in June 2016. However, they have only had restricted opening times but have now been able to start opening their shop on Saturday’s too and are looking for new volunteers to help them.The charity believes that the limited opening hours has isolated some dementia carers who have other work commitments. That’s because many potential users are unable to access their shop in midweek.[caption id="attachment_12089" align=aligncenter width=300]
Julia Gillatt, the new assistant administrator for Dementia Friendly Keighley[/caption]About five per cent of all people in the UK with dementia are under the age of 65 and they or their primary carers may still be working. Then there are older people who are cared for by those who are also in employment.
Amazing Achievement
The National Lottery Community Fund grant will be received in phases over the next two years. Maggie Marsden, who is one of the charities founders is delighted with the funding. “This is an amazing achievement for us,” she said. It’s the largest amount of funding they have received, and she added, “we’re thrilled to be recognised in this way.”Also overjoyed at the news of the National Lottery Community Fund grant is Steve Seymour, manager of the Airedale Shopping Centre. He paid tribute to the charity saying that “the team thoroughly deserves the investment and it is testament to the success the charity has so far achieved.”
Growing Popularity
Despite their limited opening times, the facility has been an “incredible success” with a continually increasing amount of people using it. The charity works with other groups such as Carers’ Resource, Age UK and the Alzheimer’s Society.
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