THE elderly will be the focus of charitable efforts for Swindon Cares in its next year of fundraising, it announced yesterday.

Representatives from organisations in the town such as Zurich, Arkell’s and Rotary Club of Swindon attended a function at the Tawny Owl pub to celebrate last year’s fundraising total of around £17,000, and throw their support behind two new charities – Swindon Alzheimer’s Society and Swindon Carers Centre.

The charitable network elected to focus on the elderly and issues affecting them, including dementia and adult carers over-65.

It will stage its usual annual events such as the High Sheriff’s concert, quiz night and golf day throughout the year.

Bill Fishlock, vice-chairman, said the committee chose to focus on the elderly after several years of helping charities involved with youngsters.

He said: “We never set a target and every year it seems to be a little more difficult, but we still managed to raise £17,000 last year which is great.

“We tend to ask the charities what they would do with £5,000 if we could raise that for them and we are hopeful we can do better than that.

“The decision to choose two elderly charities was quite deliberate because we had been choosing charities over the course of the last two to three years that dealt with children or younger people.

“Alzheimer’s is not a totally older disease but it does affect many in Swindon, and we can help adult carers get respite and replacement carers while they are away.”

Cath Johnston, a senior manager at the Swindon Carers Centre, said: “It is great Swindon Cares have chosen us as one of their charities – and it could be huge for us.

“We can use the money to organise events or time away for carers, which can often be limited for those over-65. It really can be a lifeline for them and we do have a large number of over-65s registered with us.

“It’s also great they have chosen the Alzheimer’s Society, who we can look forward to working more closely with in the future.”

Rachael Sweet, community fundraiser for the Alzheimer’s Society, said the network’s support was much needed with the number of dementia sufferers in the town set to rise from 2,200 to 2,900 within eight years.

She said: “All the locally raised funds go towards locally-run schemes such as our memory cafe, where sufferers can meet and socialise, and to Singing for the brain, a music therapy group that gets people together.”

The first event, the Swindon Cares Golf Day, will take place on June 26 at Ogbourne Downs Golf Club and details are available from Peter Hayman on peter.c.

hayman@btinternet.com