IT WAS a double celebration at Rodney Parade on Saturday as Newport County AFC became Wales’s first dementia friendly football league club.

During the half-time break in the club’s 2-0 win over Yeovil Town, a presentation was held to the mark the team’s achievement after staff and volunteers undertook training with the Alzheimer’s Society in the summer.

The training covers how it affects people, and enable them to be more empathetic and understanding of their needs.

Colin Faulkner, the chairman of the club’s Disabled Supporters Association (DSA) called the award “massive” for Newport County.

“For us, especially as we are owned by the supporters trust, I think it is more important that we do all we can to get out into the community and become a shining light to other organisations,” he said.

“The city is on board with becoming dementia friendly and it is important that Newport’s sports sides are part of that.

“The staff and volunteers who have taken part in the training have been taught to look for the signs in people who could manifest as conditions linked to dementia.

“We are hoping to provide support of fans of Newport County with disabilities right across the board, even if that allows people to come to one game per week. We’ve managed to help around 10 fans get out to games on a regular basis.”

Phil Diamond from the Alzheimer’s Society added: “This is the biggest occasion for us in terms of awarding the kite mark because we’ve presented to a number of businesses but nowhere near as large an organisation in terms of exposure.

“The first football league club in Wales is a real feather in the cap.”

“People with dementia lose confidence because they are not sure about their surroundings. What we want people to do is to live their life.

“If they remain at home, their condition will get increasingly worse. Going out to watch football, for a meal or visiting friends can slow down the rate of the disease.

“It is great that the club is on board and doing things to help people with dementia.”

Newport West AM Jayne Bryant spoke of her pride at her constituency leading the way on a matter very close to her heart.

“I am very proud as someone who is a season ticket holder and a fan of the club to know that Newport is the first football league team in Wales to achieve this – it’s brilliant,” she said.

“This is something which I will be raising back at the Assembly and it’s another step towards Newport and hopefully Wales becoming a dementia friendly city and country respectively.

“This is just as much for the carers as the people with the condition. They will know that people with dementia can come to a safe environment like Newport County.

“It is a great day for the city – it is one thing to talk about it but it is another to do something about it.

“We are leading the way and it is great to see Newport leading the way on things. It’s a great day for the club and it’s another step in the right direction of the city and Wales.”

Newport City Council’s Cllr Paul Cockeram, the cabinet member for social services, said the award was helping the city on its way to ultimately becoming entirely dementia friendly.

“We are going for this dementia friendly city award and we are not too far away. One of our schools – St Joseph’s – all the teachers and all the pupils have received dementia training,” he said.

“There’s interested from other city schools in following their lead.

“We want everyone to follow Newport County’s lead by taking part in dementia training – we want the taxis involved, we want the other modes of transport involved too. “