Dementia awareness race

● The resident musician at a dementia care centre aims to set a hot tempo of a different kind when she runs in a race to promote greater awareness of the condition. Nia Davies Williams, who uses music to enhance the lives of residents at Bryn Seiont Newydd care home, in Caernarfon, will be swapping her concert gown for running kit to stride out in one of three fun races arranged by the local community committee as part of its campaign to make the nearby village of Bontnewydd officially dementia friendly. The 10-strong Hwyl y Bont group of volunteers was set up in 2011 to help bring the community together and organises a programme of regular events, including the annual races around the village. This year the six 5k, 10k and junior events, for males and females, are aimed specifically at helping to make Bontnewydd a dementia friendly area and have the official support of Bryn Seiont Newydd and its proprietor Mario Kreft of the Pendine Park care organisation, which already supports the Purple Angels campaign to raise awareness about dementia. The bilingual centre, which recently won the Stirling University backed Pinders Award as the best new care home in the UK, provides specialist care for 71 dementia sufferers on the site of the former Ysbyty Bryn Seiont community hospital in the town’s Pant Road and has created more than 100 jobs. As part of its commitment to support the community, it has agreed to become sole sponsor for the races, providing trophies for the winners in each of the six events.