PROGRESS has been made in making the borough or Wrexham more dementia friendly, a council has said.

Over the last few months a number of local businesses and community groups around Wrexham have attended a dementia friends session to gain more awareness on what it is like to live with dementia.

The sessions have also extended to school teachers, key stage five and six children and scout groups, with more sessions arranged in the future.

A number of Wrexham Council's departments have also undertaken dementia friends sessions and this has now been extended to the children’s department too.

There are currently 19 dementia champions within the authority who are trained to provide dementia friends sessions for free which only last an hour.

Anyone who would like to find out more about these sessions can get in touch via commissioning@wrexham.gov.uk .

A spokesman for the council said: "There are 850,000 people living with dementia in the UK and this number is expected to rise to 1 million by 2021.

"It is crucial that we plan ahead and look at ways on how we can support this growing number of people and how to continue to raise awareness of what it is like to live with dementia and the impact this may have on carers.

"Dementia leaves people feeling confused, isolated, lost, intimidated and vulnerable.

"To know how this feels, we are very pleased to work with the Dementia Tour Bus team which gives people an opportunity to walk in the world of people living with dementia.

"We can then be better placed to change the environment and working practices to allow people with dementia to stay at home longer and improve care.

"In addition to the Dementia Tour Bus touring the county borough our libraries have also come on board and have hosted several Dementia Awareness training events.

"These are usually very well attended so watch out for one coming to your local library in the coming months."

Both Holt and Chirk have been identified as being dementia friendly communities and work is currently underway to work with local businesses within these areas.

There is also an opportunity to receive a small grant if anyone are considering setting up a community based activity group that will benefit those living with dementia.

It is called the community inclusion grant and an application form can be requested from the commissioning team at any time during the year, however applications will only be considered by the grant panel which meets about four times per year.

To request a form email commissioning@wrexham.gov.uk or call 01978 292066.

A spokesman for Wrexham Council added: "The latest venture for dementia awareness training staff has been into the commercial world as Apollo taxi drivers led the way and took on training.

"We’re hoping this was the first of many commercial operations who work direct with the public and are more likely to come into contact with those living with dementia."