North Wiltshire MP James Gray has become a dementia friend after attending a session in Malmesbury Town Hall on Friday.

The Dementia Friends scheme, run by The Alzheimer’s Society, aims educate people about dementia by giving them training.

The society hopes to have one million dementia friends by 2015 to make England more dementia friendly.

After the session Mr Gray held a public meeting to raise awareness about the services available in Wiltshire for people living with dementia.

The meeting was attended by more than 100 people.

Mr Gray said: “I’ve signed up to show my support for Dementia Friends, and am encouraging people in North Wiltshire to do the same.

“With a growing number of people living with dementia, 6,800 of them in Wiltshire, it’s more important than ever that we all have a better understanding of the condition.

“I was so pleased that local residents found my awareness meeting helpful, and that they were able to share their experiences and views.”

Andrew Day, services manager for The Alzheimer’s Society in Wiltshire, said: “Most people don’t know enough about dementia. Dementia Friends is the perfect opportunity to be able to invite everyone to improve their knowledge.”

Find out at www.dementia friends.org.uk