You can now take board games to and from a FREE dementia-friendly swap shop.

Last Thursday, Dementia Friendly Congleton launched a free Swap Shop service for Congleton residents living with dementia.

The exchange service has a warm and welcoming area housed within Congleton Library, Market Street.

A variety of games and activities suitable for people living with dementia, are available for loan or can be swapped for games and activities in good condition.

They can be played with by dementia patients and members of their family, to help make meet-ups more family-friendly.

Diane Ritherdon, Chair of Dementia Friendly Congleton said: "We are delighted to have found a wonderful home for the new service.

"It is more important than ever for us to continue to support those affected by dementia in our community.

"The items for swap are currently brand new and mainly sourced from the Alzheimer's Society, all

designed to stimulate memories of earlier times and include jigsaws, aqua paints, memory cards, colouring books and locally knitted Twiddle Muffs. "Items for swap should be complete especially jigsaws which should be no more than 250 pieces with easy to handle parts. The helpful library staff will be on hand to offer assistance and guidance." If you don't have an activity to swap, you can always donate and still loan a board game from the Market Square Library. Unlike regularly library loans, you can keep ahold of board games for as long as you want, to help improve the quality of life and family time with those impacted by dementia. So if you wanted, you could take a boardgame and keep it for Christmas. Especially if you are inviting and caring for loved ones with dementia over the festive season. Dementia Friendly Congleton a sub-group of the Congleton Partnership is helping to spread the word about face to face activities starting to resume across the town after all support groups were postponed during the COVID-19 pandemic. They've also launched new publication which provides information on regular community activities. Mike Smith, Co-ordinator of the Congleton Partnership said: "We are thrilled to see the community finally coming back together again. "These activities are a lifeline to many residents who have found themselves isolated and looking for companionship and social chats. "There are plans for more sessions to open in the New Year." The face to face activities range from coffee mornings, gentle exercise classes, crafts, sing alongs, lunch clubs, plus many more. They are open to people living with dementia, their carers and family members. A warm welcome is also extended to the 'young at heart' living in Congleton, the regular activities have been organised to help local people feel part of their community. The free leaflet is available from the Congleton Information Centre, Congleton library and online here. Diane Ritherdon concluded: "We encourage anyone who knows someone with dementia to continue to keep in contact, whether that's by paying a visit or making regular phone calls. "There is so much more to a person than their dementia, and regular contact can do so much to help someone feel less alone. You can learn more about Dementia Friendly Congleton on this page or contact Diane on 07770 724932. Please consider signing up for our Friday weekly newsletter containing each week's top 10 Congleton news stories, and one FREE exclusive article. 2900 of you lovely people have signed up already. Simply enter your email address into the shaded box below. Free from pop-up ads, or unwanted surveys, Congleton Nub News is a quality online newspaper which produces 15-25 stories a week for our town. You can also find us on Facebook or Twitter.