A safe haven for sufferers of dementia

Staff at Thornton-based plastics firm Victrex donated a days’s work to help build a learning garden at East Pines Park.

The work saw weeds removed, two large, boat-shaped flower beds brought in, and a new circular dementia friendly path installed.

The path is designed to take people with dementia on a ‘journey’ around the garden, which is set to be based on the Edward Lear poem ‘The Owl and the Pussycat’.

The new garden, which will feature carved statues of the owl and the pussycat, will also be used as a learning and reading garden by local schoolchildren and users of Anchorsholme Library.

Anchorsholme councillor Paul Galley said: “We are so grateful to Victrex and their hard working staff for giving up their time and working so hard in some really tough conditions to support our local park and our local community.

“They have been incredible right from the planning stages to the hard work they put in on the day, without them we couldn’t deliver this learning garden and it will make a massive difference in the way the park is used. They have been brilliant.”

Adam Forsyth, plant manager at Victrex Plc, said: “This is a fantastic project to be involved in and we are proud to be associated with the scheme.

“We all enjoyed the chance to contribute to the community and also got to the chance speak with some of the local residents while we’ve been here.”