A group of young people from the Prince’s Trust recently undertook a project at Age UK Lancashire's Day Time support Centre in Padiham, helping to transform our dementia friendly garden back to glory after a long winter.

The ‘Burnley Team 55’ of the Prince’s Trust started the project on Monday 4th March and took two weeks to dig out old shrubs, tidy up the paved and seated areas and plant new seeds in time for spring.

Program Support Worker Imran Essack from Lancashire Fire & Rescue, who helped run the project said: “As part of the project the team did some fundraising activities to raise money towards the seeds, plants and materials.  The main success came from a car wash they held at Burnley Fire Station, raising a fantastic £124 in just one and a half hours.  It was even more impressive as it was a raining really hard that day”.

The group also asked for donations from local companies and were successful in receiving a £75 voucher from Calico and donations of seeds and other materials from B&M Bargains.

Sophie Bailey, Project Team Leader from Lancashire Fire & Rescue added: “This group has been a pleasure to work with.  As soon as they found out we were coming to Age UK Lancashire they were delighted to be able to get started and worked really hard.  One of the highlights was at the presentation where each of them gave a speech about the project to their family, supporters and Age UK Lancashire staff.  Most of them had never done a presentation before and they took to the challenge and were amazing”.

The centre at Knight Hill House in Memorial Park, Padiham is one of the leading Day Time Support services in the local area and provides activities, freshly made food and a variety of support, including for people with dementia, in a friendly and welcoming environment.

Lesley Bowden from Age UK Lancashire said: “It’s brilliant when groups like the Prince’s Trust come and support us.  Our dementia friendly garden at Knight Hill House is a wonderful space and the members really enjoy sitting out and doing some gardening activities.  We are so glad this group of young people came in sorted out the garden in time for the nicer weather.  We couldn’t have done it without them”.

Also in attendance at the presentation were Age UK Lancashire Chief Executive, Teri Stephenson and Day Time Support Manger Louise Reynolds who were delighted to thank the group for all of their hard work and effort.

Information on the Daytime Support service can be found at:  https://www.ageuk.org.uk/lancashire/our-services/day-time-support/