Telford dementia groups losing £12,000 in funding

However, the charity which run the groups has promised it will continue.

The chief executive of the local Age UK branch said it was “bitterly disappointed” by the as-yet unexplained cut which starts next month, but hopes it can raise alternative funding in its 70th-anniversary appeal.

Grant funding from the Telford and Wrekin Clinical Commissioning Group helps support a monthly group in Wellington and three fortnightly sessions in Dawley, Donnington and Ketley Bank.

The CCG has been approached for comment.

Heather Osborne, the chief executive of Age UK Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin, said: “The original groups were set up on the back of a major fundraising campaign in 2009 to celebrate our 60th anniversary. Since then we have funded these groups using a mix of resources, including original appeal money, local fundraising, fee income, donations and, of course, the £12,000 from the CCG.”

The sessions include peer support, access to information, activities and lunch, and Ms Osborne said they had been “enormously successful” for people with dementia and their carers. In total we support about 50 people in these groups, and over the course of a year there will be almost 1,100 attendances,” she said.

Age UK was informed of the CCG’s funding decision in writing on February 8, and has written back requesting the reasons for it.

The charity receives other grant funding from the CCG for other projects, and this will be unaffected.

Ironic

“Our trustee board has given a commitment to finding alternative funding streams to replace the money lost from the CCG,” Ms Osborne added. “We think this could form the basis of a new appeal to celebrate our 70th anniversary next year and are confident this sum can be fundraised.

“Despite feeling a sense of bitter disappointment that this modest funding has been cut from a service supporting such vulnerable older people, we will not let our clients down.”

Age UK STW deputy chief executive Hilary Knight is a co-opted member of Telford and Wrekin Council’s Health and Adult Care Scrutiny Committee.

She told their recent meeting about the funding decision, and chairman Councillor Andy Burford suggested the committee write to the CCG to find out their rationale.

Councillor Veronica Fletcher said the move was “ironic” because “we’re told dementia is a growing problem that is going to affect more and more people”.

A report before the committee projected that the over-85 population of Telford and Wrekin, estimated at 3,170 in 2017, was will more than double to 6,900 by 2031, increasing the demand for domiciliary, residential and other forms of care.

By local democracy reporter Alex Moore