A LOCAL charity which supports people living with dementia feared it could lose its activity service earlier this year - but it’s been rejuvenated thanks to funding to the tune of more than £200,000 which will help it run until at least 2027.

Barnsley Independent Alzheimer’s and Dementia Support (BIADS) was established in 2009 by chief officer Linda Pattison and a number of interested people, with its offices opening a year later.

The vision was and continues to be an independent charity, offering services to assist those living with dementia and their carers within the Barnsley borough.

The desire was to establish a charity that was not only independent but could guarantee that all funds and donations received stayed within Barnsley.

In the spring and summer of this year, the charity found themselves facing the possibility of losing its activity service which would have been devastating for their members affected by dementia.

However, they are celebrating this week after being told that their bid to the National Lottery Community Fund has been successful.

They have been awarded £215,000 over three years to provide activities such as drop ins, singers, circle dancing, holidays and many others.

Their last funding covered all of these services but now due to increased funding they will be able to take their services out to different areas making it easier for people affected by dementia to access them.

Linda told the Chronicle: “The last few months have been extremely worrying for everyone involved with BIADS.

“Losing the activity service would have been a massive blow for our members but thanks to the National Lottery Fund we can now offer those services ongoing until September 2027.

“It was wonderful when we were able to tell our members - their relief was plain to see.”

But the good news didn’t stop there.

The charity was chosen to take part in the Sky Bet Ebor Festival Community Sweepstake last weekend and had the chance of winning up to £20,000.

Unfortunately their horse, Sea King, finished in sixth place but they still received a total of £1,000.

Deputy chief officer Lesley Parkes, who attended the event in Doncaster, said: “It was a fantastic day and opportunity for all the 22 charities involved with a big thank you to Sky Bet.

“The £1,000 will be spent on Barnsley people affected by dementia.”

Then they found out that the Asda foundation had granted them £1,269 to pay for new kitchen equipment including a cooker which will be used all year round for light lunches for members.

The service relies on funding and the support of kind residents - and that’s exactly what Steve Iveson and his partner Shiro, who live in the US, are doing.

They will climb Kilimanjaro in September to raise funds for BIADS, just months after raising almost £10,000 by completing both the Yorkshire and National Three Peaks.

Steve said: “Around 70 to 80 per cent of those who start make it to the summit - while we are as prepared as it’s possible to be, we are realistic.

“But we’re giving it all we’ve got to try and raise some more much-needed funds for this wonderful local charity who supported my beloved mum and dad for so long before she passed away earlier this year.”

Linda added: “It is fantastic to be able to tell everyone about the good news we have had recently but the quest for funding goes on as more and more people are being diagnosed with dementia every day and we want to be here to give them the support they need and so richly deserve.”