BRITAIN’S population is ageing, and South Lakeland is ageing more than most, with people over 75 accounting for more than 10 per cent of the district’s residents.

With more of us now living into our 80s and 90s, a World Health Organisation (WHO) initiative has been launched to make the country''s towns and cities more ‘age friendly’ – and Kendal has become one of the latest to sign up.

The town is also now one of 50 communities in the UK working towards becoming ‘dementia friendly’.

According to John Ashton, Cumbria’s former Director of Public Health, Kendal is the ‘obvious place’ for the WHO age-friendly model because of its demographic, but he says there are a lot of issues to overcome.

Prof Ashton, who is now president of the UK Faculty of Public Health, said, “Kendal has fantastic potential but it needs a strategy.

“The main problem, I think, is traffic – the one-way system is hostile to pedestrians because it’s designed to speed up traffic.

“I also feel the yards are a really neglected asset of Kendal – there could be places for older people to go and sit and have a cup of tea.

“What we know works for older people are small green areas where they can walk, not far from the house, and meet friends – we need to do everything we can to encourage people to come out, not sit at home feeling lonely and depressed.”

One 64-year-old Kendal resident - a carer for her 92-year-old mother, who has been suffering with dementia for more than three years - has described the town as ‘hard work’.

“I don’t take her into the town centre a lot because it’s so hard getting her around in the wheelchair – people see you struggling but I find that no-one offers to help you.

“I can only really park in the multi-storey car park because it takes a while to get her in and out of the car. It’s hard to find toilets and a lot of doors are very hard to get through.

“I’d like to see people be more aware of dementia, and more understanding of people who have it.”

Raising awareness is the first priority of the new proposals for Kendal, drawn up by the Town Mayor Coun Tom Clare, who said the next step will be the creation of a Kendal Dementia Action Alliance.

“There are things already happening in the town but we want to join them up and create a single, seamless approach,” he explained.

A meeting of ‘interested parties’ next month will include representatives from the Alzheimers Society, Age UK, South Lakes Housing, Lakeland Arts and Abbot Hall Social Centre.

One of the first steps is inviting as many people as possible – from town councillors to taxi drivers - to become ‘Dementia Friends’ by attending an hour-long information session.

“We want anyone who is interested in becoming one to come forward,” said Coun Clare.

“As we develop we will consult with people with dementia and make sure what’s on offer does meet their needs, for example one of the proposals is making sure all staff in retail outlets know where the nearest toilet is.”

The proposals are part of a wider ‘vision’ for Kendal, and will involve going through the WHO age friendly town ‘checklist’ to see which of the 84 ‘essential features’ exist in the town and which need improving.

The list covers areas including outdoor spaces, buildings, transport, housing and social inclusion, and Coun Clare said the long-term aim was to have every item ticked.

But he added: “The process itself isn’t a checklist, it’s an ongoing issue and the work we want to do with raising awareness will never stop.”

Coun Clare is working closely with David Richardson, a volunteer with the Alzheimers Society, on plans to make Kendal more dementia friendly.

“It’s estimated that there are 2,000 people with dementia in South Lakeland and we want to get the message across that dementia is everybody’s business,” said Mr Richardson.

He added that the first step towards becoming dementia friendly was educating people, “And then we want practical things to happen.

“Confusing signage can be a big issue for example, or making sure that new housing is age-friendly in terms of lighting and access.”

Key points on the WHO checklist include seating, toilets, signage and outdoor safety, areas that UK South Lakeland feels it could help.

Day Services Manager Claire Park said the charity would be keen to do an audit, or ‘mystery shop’ of the town centre, giving older people a chance to provide feedback on issues they faced and how they were supported by local businesses.

“What I would like to do is to gain older peoples' views about any specific support needs they have, and we’d also be happy to provide age awareness training to any businesses.”

Several South Lakes organisations have already made strides towards becoming age/dementia friendly, including the Brewery Arts Centre and Lakeland Arts, where all staff have been trained as Dementia Friends.

Anne-Marie Quinn is responsible for establishing a programme called Enriched by Moments at Lakeland Arts venue Abbot Hall Art Gallery. It consists of activities and events designed to engage people with dementia and their carers.

“Sometimes people can feel lonely and stop wanting to go out so we want to stop that happening wherever we can,” she said.

“There are some excellent examples of provision for people living with dementia in the town –such as Ali Rigg’s Singing for the Brain sessions at the Masonic Hall.

“I am delighted to be part of a broad dementia friendly movement in the town, and I think we need to promote what we currently have as a model of great practice that we need to build on, rather than the current feeling of it being vulnerable to funding cuts.”

LOW Furness and Ulverston Local Area Partnership (LAP)is making progress towards creating a dementia friendly community.

Five members of the group handed out more than 2,000 dementia awareness leaflets around Ulverston town centre recently.

They spent the two days talking to the community and raising awareness about the many issues surrounding dementia.

In response to the survey the LAP is currently organising an awareness event and hope to be able to offer free training to shopkeepers and businesses in Ulverston.

A provisional date for the awareness event has been set for October 23.