THE community in Wokingham is being urged to come together to make life easier for residents with dementia.

The Dementia Action Alliance (DAA) will be formed, with libraries, Readibus, Green ‘N’ Tidy, Tesco and Wokingham Borough Council among the organisations that have already signed up to join.

According to the Alzheimer’s Society, the alliance is geared towards creating a community where people with dementia feel “confident, understood and supported to live well”.

These can include a range of measures – raising awareness of available services, creating easier access, or providing additional information.

This comes as part of a move to make Wokingham more dementia friendly, and comes just one month after the town received the ‘Working towards becoming dementia friendly’ status from the Alzheimer’s Society. This recognises areas which are following a ‘common criteria’ of what changes are important to people with dementia.

Linda Barnes, Alzhei-mer’s Society’s operations manager, said: “It’s vital that people living with dementia should still be able to enjoy all Wokingham has to offer.

“Many people with dementia have reported feeling trapped in their own homes and let down by their communities, with one in three only getting out once a week and one in 10 only managing this once a month. This is simply unacceptable.

“The Wokingham Dementia Action Alliance aims to address the isolation that many people living with dementia can feel and we are delighted to see local services committing to helping people in the community live well with dementia. We hope to see even more do the same.” The official launch takes place from 11am on Tuesday, May 20, at the Bradbury Centre in Rose Street, where a number of people, including alliance members and town mayor Cllr Martin Bishop will give speeches.

Alain Wilkes, senior commissioner for Wokingham Borough Council, said: “Not only do Dementia Friendly Communities benefit individuals with dementia and their carers, but the changes that businesses and organisations make will benefit the community as a whole.” A group of young singers living with dementia, called the Harmony Choir, will join guests at the Bradbury Centre.