IN PICTURES: New $2 million dementia respite centre opened at Hawthorn House

More than 100 people turned out for the opening of Hawthorn House’s new $2 million dementia facility in Albany last week. The new respite centre has been dubbed Don’s Cottage in honour of Don Brandenburg, a Newdegate local who retired to Denmark in 2005 after he set up a foundation in his name to invest and distribute money from his estate to groups or organisations in the Great Southern. After his death in 2015, $1 million was donated to Alzheimer’s WA by the foundation Mr Brandenburg started. The new facility features double rooms for carers and their loved ones. The respite home opening included speeches and the ribbon cutting from dignitaries, before a tour of the new building and a morning tea.