SALISBURY’S MP John Glen will open a refurbished garden at the Alzheimer’s Society Day Club as part of Alzheimer’s Awareness Week in early July.

The garden in Stratford Road was badly damaged when vandals set fire to its hedge several months ago and the flames spread to the pergola and furniture.

“Lots of people have chipped in since then,” said the society’s Martin Plimsoll. “Landscape firms donated stuff and somebody did the fencing at cost, while Salisbury & South Wilts Golf Club provided money to redesign the garden to make it suitable for older people with dementia to work in. The idea was for it to become an activity, rather than just a place to sit.”

The society has planned a series of events to raise awareness of the services and support it provides and to recruit more volunteers.

Its fortnightly Memory Café, at St George’s Church Hall in Harnham from 10.30am to 12.30pm on July 7, will have a wedding theme, with live music, tea and cakes.

The following day there will be sessions of Singing for the Brain in Harnham and Amesbury, when new faces are welcome.

Then on July 9 the garden and day club will be open to all from 12noon to 2pm.

Other events include a street collection in the city centre on July 6 and an open-air Singing for the Brain session at the market. Local primary schools are being encouraged to hold tea parties on July 5, and the week will end with a celebratory evening of Irish music, with a BBQ, at the White Horse at Quidhampton. Tickets, costing £10, are available from the society at 29a Brown Street or on 01722 326236.

There will also be a pub quiz to support the society’s work at the South Western Hotel in Tisbury on June 30, and other pubs are invited to hold quizzes, too.

Dementia affects about 1,800 people in south Wiltshire.