Volunteers at Calne Memory Club marked a year of improving inclusion and quality of life for people living with dementia at its first anniversary on Thursday.

The club has met fortnightly for the past 12 months for people with memory loss and their carers at Marden House. Five people attended its first meeting but now it has 31 members attending its friendly activity sessions.

Club secretary Jan Bird said: “It was a pretty low key event – we didn’t want to make a fuss but we enjoyed the cake. I’m proud to have attracted so many members.

“We were not expecting it to take off this well. We knew it would be a slow start but we are having more people join us all the time. We are all volunteers that run the club and they are all absolutely brilliant.”

Alzheimer’s disease is the most common type of dementia, an overall term for conditions that occur when the brain no longer functions properly. In the UK, more than 820,000 people are living with dementia.

Mrs Bird said: “It’s going to be a growing problem and the councils have not got the budgets, so facilities are not there anymore. They rely on the voluntary sector.

“It would be nice to see more facilities for people with dementia. It’s the carers who I feel sorry for – they are trying to manage everything at the same time.”

Calne Memory Club remains independent of any other agency and is organised by a small voluntary management committee.

The main objective of the club is to ensure that all members can join in activities that are important and meaningful to them while breaking down the stigma of memory loss.

The club is planning some fundraising events and grant applications to enable it to continue its work for many years to come.

To volunteer, please contact Jan Bird 01249 817928