DOCTORS, academics, carers and dementia sufferers will help launch the start of work to make Bolton a dementia-friendly town.

The launch takes place tomorrow at the Bridge Conference Centre, Bolton.

More than 150 health professionals are expected to attend to discuss how to raise the profile of dementia across the borough, and improve the lives of people with the condition.

Bolton-born Norman McNamara, who was diagnosed with dementia aged 50 and created a booklet of practical advice for people with dementia and their carers, will speak at the event, which will be chaired by John Keady, professor of mental health nursing at Manchester University. The meeting will be opened by Cllr Guy Harkin, Mayor of Bolton.

There will also be a “marketplace”, where local services, the public sector, and voluntary organisations will explain more about their role in working with dementia. Locally, there are thought to be 3,026 sufferers with dementia, but only 1,778 have been diagnosed — a rate of 58.8 per cent.

The event will also mark the start of the Bolton Dementia Partnership, created to make sure that dementia services and information in the town is fully integrated and consistent.

For more information, visit bolton.gov.uk/dementia.