A volunteer who aims to make Watford a dementia-friendly town has won a community hero award.

Alexis Neighbour, 43, from Bushey is the co-owner of home care company Home Instead with her husband Peter.

Mrs Neighbour began working with her husband four years ago when she was inspired to improve dementia care after witnessing first-hand the care given to one of her husband’s family members.

As she began working with her husband, her passion for dementia care grew and she decided to volunteer as a dementia friend champion for Alzheimer's society in June last year.

Mrs Neighbour said: “My passion is to help people stay at home independently.

“About 50 per cent of people we look after have dementia and I want to help people living in the community with dementia to stay safe and happy in their own home.

“I want to raise awareness in the community and for people to understand what it is like living with dementia and having the right resources in place so they can take part in society.”

As a volunteer, Mrs Neighbour creates dementia friends by running sessions in schools, hospitals and other community groups.

The free training she provides ensures people living with dementia have others who understand their challenges and know how to talk to them.

She added: “There are a thousand people in Watford living with dementia – who we know about.

“We also need to help people who think they might have dementia and create a good support structure for the town.”

Mrs Neighbour has created nearly 800 dementia friends in Watford and hopes in the future more businesses in the town centre can get involved with the training.

Mrs Neighbour is currently organising a memory café which will tack place in the first Friday of every month to support people with dementia and their carers.

She will also be organising a Christmas concert at St Mary’s Church to take place in early December.

When told about the award, Mrs Neighbour said: “I don’t see myself as a community hero. I do it because I think its important to the community.

“It is really about hearing the voices of people with dementia, what they want and how we can help the carers.”