How a teenager coped with the challenges of her grandfathers having dementia are told in her own words in a new book.

Raisa Hollaway-Hambidge, 17, of Wellesley Road, Westgate, is a major contributor to The Dementia Diaries, launched on Friday at County Hall.

In the book, Raisa, writing under the name Sarah, gives accounts of conflicting emotions: happy, sad, puzzling and poignant, just the way she felt them.

Her stories appear alongside the real-life accounts of other young people to create a novel in cartoons and diary extracts, to raise awareness of dementia among young people.

Copies of the book have been sent to every primary and secondary school across Kent and will be available in county libraries.

It has been endorsed by TV presenter and dementia champion Angela Rippon, who wrote: “The thoughts of these young people coming to terms with the effect that dementia has on much-loved members of their families are humorous, humbling and overlaid with uncompromising honesty.

“They demonstrate a remarkably mature and uncomplicated approach to the condition and their grandparents.”

They were a “real beacon of hope for the future.”

The book has gained interest nationally and abroad.

Raisa, a former King Ethelbert School pupil who is training as a teaching assistant at St Crispin’s Infant School, Westgate, said she was happy to be part of something which may help others know they are not alone.

“This book is important, it shows other young people that it’s not just them, there are other people going through what they’re going through,” she said. Book creators Social Innovation Lab Kent, hope the children’s accounts of their experiences will prove an accessible way for other young people to understand the nature of dementia.

Read more about Raisa’s experiences and involvement in the book, and the help the family received through East Kent Independent Dementia Support (EKIDS), in next week’s Thanet Extra. Contact EKIDS on 01227 730000 or see East Kent Independent Dementia Support on Facebook.