Council provides service respite

THE Tweed Valley Respite Service has been given $495,000 by Tweed Shire Council to make renovations and build a cottage for dementia clients.

Manger Bronwyn Mitchell said the service was looking forward to the completion of the renovations.

"Hopefully the building will be completed by the end of the year and the signing of a 20-year lease with Tweed Shire Council on Wednesday evening was certainly … a step closer to finalising the project," Ms Mitchell said.

The council has given the money to the service on a 20-year lease, in which it will have to make annual repayments.

The cottage will include a wandering garden where patients can get involved in the gardening, and centre-based activities for the service of more than 300 clients.

Land has also been donated to the respite service by the council to make the renovations possible.

Ms Mitchell said she had recently noticed an increase in people under the age of 65 with early onset dementia.

"Offering a variety of services and activities is important to cater for the different age groups [as well as] the different stages of [dementia]," she said.

The respite service has numerous programs which all provide what Ms Mitchell called a "dementia pathway", where clients can move seamlessly from one program to another.

The renovations to the centre will help provide those services.