Our Project
A place for the community - a place to transform local dementia care and support in West Berkshire
Transformational Dementia Care in the heart of West Berkshire
West Berkshire Dementia Hub (WBDH), working in association with Greenham Trust, will create a purpose-designed centre in the heart of our community to transform local dementia care and support. This will combine information about the full range of dementia services under one roof with the aim of improving integration across health and care. It will bring together the NHS Memory Assessment Service and other statutory and voluntary provision.
Centred around a welcoming cafe, West Berkshire Dementia Hub will deliver a range of services with diversified funding streams to underpin ongoing financial sustainability. This will include one-to-one ‘wayfinding’ support from diagnosis onwards, education and information enabling individuals and their families to manage better for longer.
West Berkshire Dementia Hub will be a central focus for all local organisations already providing dementia support services across the area, including help with welfare and legal advice. Working together, this will provide seamless support from pre-diagnosis throughout the dementia journey to deliver the best quality of life to an individual and their family.
Can you help us transform dementia support in West Berkshire? Click on the link below to make a donation
Making it Happen
Charity-led but fully integrated with NHS provision, West Berkshire Dementia Hub will create opportunities for insights and partnership working to deliver real system transformation and innovation, unconstrained by the limitations of statutory funding.
WBDH is inspired by the Sage House model in West Sussex which has a proven track record and academic evaluation demonstrating its value to the dementia community and savings to the NHS. In the same way, WBDH will work with other charities around the country helping to develop and shape the future of dementia support in England.
Greenham Trust as strategic funder is committed to purchase the land and manage the development of the building, working with WBDH as sole, long-term tenant. Agreement has been reached with the NHS to purchase a one-acre plot on land to the east of West Berks Community Hospital in Thatcham, zoned for healthcare related development only. The planning application will be submitted to West Berkshire Council in 2026.
A design advisory group drawn from the NHS Memory Assessment team and other dementia specialists is working with HNW Architects who have been appointed by WBDH and Greenham Trust to make the best use of the space available and to ensure that the building is fully dementia friendly.
‘I'm delighted to add my support to this exciting project. I am confident that the West Berkshire Dementia Hub will ensure better outcomes for people suffering with dementia as well as providing welcome support for their families. We know that the number of people in West Berkshire living with this distressing condition is predicted to increase substantially over the next decade and co-locating the full range of services at a single, purpose-built location will play a huge part in addressing the challenges we face individually and as a community. The Dementia Hub will be a very welcome addition to our excellent local health and care services and I look forward to seeing it open.’
Funding the project
The estimated capital cost of the project is approximately £5m to buy the land and build and fit out the hub. Greenham Trust will contribute approximately £1m and has committed to use this funding to match-fund contributions towards the building.
WBDH is approaching a select group of local funders seeking to anchor a capital fundraising campaign and increase the match-funding pot to £2.5m.
The capital fundraising campaign will launch early next year, backed by an ambassador programme of influential local people who are already spreading the word about the project out into the wider community. You can help now by clicking here and supporting the project.