Leading councillors join the fight against dementia

Two senior Plymouth politicians stepped out on The Hoe at the weekend to show their support for the Alzheimer’s Society’s fight against dementia.

Plymouth City Council leader Ian Bowyer and his wife, Councillor Lynda Bowyer, who is Cabinet member for Health and Adult Social Care, joined more than 1,300 people taking part in the Alzheimer Society’s Memory Walk along the city’s waterfront.

The event organised by Alzheimer’s Society raised money for support services and research into dementia which affects more than 3,000 people living in Plymouth. It is predicted that this will rise to more than 3,600 by 2020.

Councillor Ian Bowyer said: “Dementia is a matter that deeply affects hundreds of families in Plymouth and we are committed to supporting the work of Alzheimer’s Society in searching for a cure and providing support for those who are affected by this terrible condition. The Memory Walk was a fantastic show of solidarity in the shared goal of beating dementia and we were proud to have been a part of it.”

Councillor Lynda Bowyer “The numbers that turned out for the Memory Walk this year shows the growing level of support in Plymouth for this cause and the number of families that are affected by it.

“As a Council we also committed to working with our partners to make Plymouth a dementia friendly city. We are working together on a whole range of initiatives, including creating dementia friendly car parking spaces, dementia awareness sessions for local businesses and a dementia friendly toolkit for organisations in Plymouth.”