AN Exeter charity has launched  its first Memory Cafe aimed at  dementia and memory loss sufferers and their carers.

Around 20 people attended  the two-hour session organised  by The Estuary League of  Friends at the Nelson Close  Community Room in Topsham.

The session aimed to be a  relaxing opportunity for people  to meet, share experiences and  gather information to help them  and their families.

Rachel Gilpin, chief executive  of the Estuary League of  Friends, said: “We live in a rapidly aging society and we’re in  an area of Devon with a high  number of elderly residents.

“This is the first Memory  Cafe for this part of the county.  We hope carers and their families will help us run future  cafes, to ensure the sessions offer the maximum support, information and it becomes a wonderful social group.”

Dementia affects around  700,000 people in the UK including 66,000 people in the South  West.

The number is expected to  increase more than threefold in  the next 50 years.

David Light, from Bishopsteignton, has been a full-time  carer for his wife, Pam, 76, who  has dementia and is now in a  home.

David has helped set up the  Memory Cafes across Devon  and has co-written Dementia  Carers Pathways, published by  the Devon Partnership NHS  Trust, to help other carers find  the information they need.

The brochure has been used  by the Government’s National  Dementia Strategy as a key text  to base the Memory Cafes on.

David, 74, said: “Being a carer  is very isolating and it can get  you down.

“Every carer is on a different  pathway and the function of the  Memory Cafes is to catch  someone with dementia early  on and get them into the system.”

Victoria Jones, from Topsham, cares for her husband,  Nick, 62, who suffers from a rare  condition called Semantic Dementia — a progressive loss of  the ability to remember the  meaning of words, faces and objects.

Victoria, 60, said: “If there  had been something like this for  us five years ago it would have  been fantastic.

 “@ There is a stigma attached to  dementia and people are reluctant to talk about it but this cafe  helps sufferers and carers to  meet each other, to learn how to  cope and to swap practical tips  and advice.”

The next Memory Cafe will be  on Tuesday, April 27,  at the  Nelson Close Community Room  from 10.30am to 12.30pm.

For more information, contact Rachel Gilpin on 01392  879009 or email rachel.estuary@virgin.net.