A charity dedicated to helping older people in the Otley area is celebrating winning nearly £118,000 from the Big Lottery Fund.

The £117,988 award will help Otley Action for Older People (OAOP) continue vital outreach support work with the over-60s in the Otley, Arthington and Pool-in-Wharfedale areas who have dementia.

The grant will be used over three years to support the group’s Memory and Inclusion project, and will see trained volunteers befriending isolated older people in their homes to offer practical help with financial and housing issues and give other advice designed to let them stay living independently.

The scheme will also provide people with access to social and health activities including a lunch club, chair-based exercises and tai chi.

OAOP’s manager Sue Trainor said: “This is great news. The money really means that our work with the socially isolated will be able to continue, because we lost some funding last year.”

The Big Lottery Fund money will help OAOP set up a memory loss “cafe” too.