A North-East charity has been awarded a grant which will benefit people living with dementia and other mental health problems.

Dementia Care Partnership, a trailblazing local scheme in Newcastle that delivers the concept of citizenship and empowerment to help patients in Newcastle, North Tyneside and Northumberland, has been awarded £52,143.

The scheme is one of only 26 social enterprise projects from across England to receive a share of £1.4m of Department of Health (DH) funding, announced by Care Services Minister Ivan Lewis.

The funding will help Dementia Care Partnership lead the way in delivering innovative community services in health and social care. The charity will do this by promoting social inclusion while providing care services, employment, training and volunteer opportunities.

Rani Svanberg, chief executive of Dementia Care Partnership, said: "We will be able to focus on transforming some of the services such as the restaurant, coffee shop, gym, home support, day services, and short break facility into social enterprises. There are also plans to set up a Volunteering and Employment Agency and a separate training enterprise working in partnership with Northumbria University."