TROWBRIDGE-based dementia charity Alzheimer’s Support wants to reach out to more people across Wiltshire, after beating over 350 organisations to win an excellence award and £30,000 funding.

The GSK IMPACT Awards, which are funded by GlaxoSmithKline and run in partnership with The King’s Fund, reward charities that are doing excellent work to improve people’s health.

Alzheimer’s Support celebrates its 25th anniversary this year and was recognised by the awards for its work to improve the quality of life for people with dementia in east and west Wiltshire.

In addition to the recognition and funding provided by the award, Alzheimer’s Support will have access to training and development activities managed by The King’s Fund, estimated to be worth a further £6,000.

Anna Littlechild, Alzheimer’s Support chief executive, said: “We are delighted that the work we have been doing to support people with dementia and their families has been recognised in this way.

“Winning the award, and the high public profile that accompanies it, will inspire our staff and volunteers still further and help us reach many more families.

“One of the things we are hoping to do with the money is to spread our specialist knowledge to a wider audience and we are planning on employing a training co-ordinator for in-house training and also to work further afield.

“We are also looking at holding cognitive stimulation therapy courses, which will last for seven to eight weeks and are for people recently diagnosed or in the early stages of dementia.”

Alzheimer’s Support runs award-winning day clubs in Sidmouth Street, Devizes, Trowbridge and Westbury, a support at home service, activity groups, support and training for carers and GPs, plus campaigns on behalf of people affected by dementia.

The charity also published an influential report in 2012 looking at barriers to diagnosis in the area, which contributed to local health service commissioners prioritising dementia.

Since then, diagnosis waiting times have been dramatically reduced from 13 months to just four weeks and diagnosis rates have risen significantly.

Lisa Weaks, from The King’s Fund, said: “Service users and their carers are at the heart of everything Alzheimer’s Support does. It has broken down some of the taboos related to dementia and successfully challenged the lack of early diagnosis.

“Improvements in dementia diagnosis in Wiltshire, which it has contributed to, are particularly impressive. It operates on the principles that people with dementia and their carers are at the centre of everything it does and its level of service delivery is impressive.”

Alzheimer’s Support will receive its prize at a ceremony to be held at the Science Museum in London on May 14, along with the other nine winners. An overall winner, who will receive a further £10,000 in unrestricted funding, will also be revealed on the night.