A new club for people with dementia could be set up to replace a day-long service that will close at the end of the month.

The Alzheimer’s Society is halving the length of its Epping Care Day sessions at the Quaker meeting house in Hemnall Street, Epping, meaning hot meals will no longer be offered there and the price per day will double from £10 to £20.

Health worker Sarah Kalenzi is setting up a day centre, also at the meeting house, on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, offering a hot meal and similar activities to those currently offered by the charity.

The 36-year-old, who has worked in dementia care at Waltham Forest Council for 17 years, said: “I’m trying to keep it very similar to what the Alzheimer’s Society was doing.

“I’ve had some involvement with Epping Care Day and I knew some of the guests there.

“From knowing about what was going to happen with care day, I saw an opportunity.”

The day-long sessions, which will include a hot meal for the sufferers, will cost £45 a day.

Ms Kalenzi said: “I tried to keep it so it’s reasonable for people who are not eligible for government funding.

“It won’t be charity-based; it will be a private organisation.”

She added that the cost was well below the alternative day centre at St Margaret’s Hospital in Epping, which is about £80 a day.

Karen Poulter, 52, whose 92-year-old mother Philomena Whaley uses the current Alzheimer’s Society service, said: “I’ve been told my mum’s not going to be eligible for the new sessions because of her mobility. They want to take them on outings.

“If it wasn’t for this, I don’t know what we’d do.”