This week I visited Amanda’s Day Services, based in STEC, who provide day-time respite care for adults with dementia, disabilities and other health needs. As Mandy Cox, who started the service, told me, this can allow carers much-needed rest or just allow them to go to work or shopping.

The team offer activities in STEC such as their new Knit & Natter session and their arts & crafts activities, but they also take service users out on trips and visits. These include animal therapy visits and, in the summer months, trips on the ferry across the Mersey and days out in Southport. Later in the year they will be celebrating the King’s Coronation with fish and chips at the Metal Box on May 8^th.

Although they use public transport a lot currently Mandy is raising funds to buy a minibus that the service will be able to use to collect service users and take them on visits. It’s something that will not only benefit the service users at STEC but which they want to offer to other community groups in the area to help them out.

The snow meant that they were down on their usual number of service users but I saw that those that had made it in were given a warm welcome and were enjoying their day. It is a fantastic service that I am pleased to see doing so well.