Campaign to save Peterborough Dementia Centre heralded in House of Commons

The campaign to save Peterborough’s Dementia Centre has been praised in the House of Commons.

The battle to protect the centre from closure was raised as MPs debated regional disparities in dementia diagnosis across England.

MPs are concerned at the disparities as dementia is now recognised as the leading cause of death in the UK and is a condition that is lived with by more than 900,000 people in the UK.

Peterborough MP Andrew Pakes said: “I am hopeful that in Peterborough we can make a positive change.

"In my constituency, there has been a recent debate about the future of our Dementia Resource Centre—a unique partnership between families, care workers and the city council, and one of just two in the country that follow such a model.

"We have recently been through the traumatic experience of finding out whether the Dementia Resource Centre would continue to exist and where it would be moved to, but I am pleased to say that it is now safe.”

A question mark had hung over the centre after cash-strapped Peterborough City Council decided to sell the building in Lincoln Road, Millfield, that housed the centre.

Campaigners fought off proposals to move it into a library and finally secured an agreement it should be moved to Paston Farm Community Centre.

Mr Pakes told MPs: “!With dementia rates only set to increase, centres of excellence like the one in Peterborough need to be promoted across the country, and we have heard about so many good examples already.

."That is why we have fought so hard to keep the centre open in our city.

"The story of our dementia centre in Peterborough will be familiar, with so many of its services involving local government.

"But thanks to campaigners, families and the incredible work of Councillor Dr Shabina Qayyum—our council’s cabinet member for adult social care, we have saved the centre and found a new home for it

"That means not only that we have saved the centre; we have also created a bespoke area in which the council will continue to invest.

"It will provide a dedicated space for socialising, so that families and carers have something that is in their lives every day, alongside the professional medical care and healthcare that they need.”