£2000 Donation Transforms Dementia Care Home Gardens
Residents at Carlingwark House in Castle Douglas can enjoy stunning gardens thanks to a £2000 donation from the Winifred Kennedy Trust.
Carlingwark House supports 30 people in Castle Douglas, who live with dementia and age-related needs. It also provides day care to older people from across the local community.
Friends of Carlingwark – a group of relatives, friends and community members who regularly organise activities and fundraising events for the home – successfully applied for funding through the Winifred Kennedy Trust.
The Trust had previously supported the care home with a £1000 donation to help with the start-up of an innovative digital activity programme.
Friends of Carlingwark received a further £200 from the Castle Douglas Community Council as well as £600 from a collection held at the funeral of Leah Couper, a long term Friend of Carlingwark House.
The funds have been used to create two incredible outdoor spaces for the people living at Carlingwark to enjoy – a colourful and vibrant sensory garden as well as a grow-your-own vegetable patch.
The Friends of Carlingwark group’s efforts in securing funds, enabled the people supported at Carlingwark, staff and students from National Trust’s Threave School of Heritage Gardening to develop the space. Together they plotted the gardens, and chose plants, vegetables and decorations.
Mandy Kennedy, Support Worker at Carlingwark House, came up with the idea of creating the dementia-friendly gardens. She says: “I’m absolutely delighted that Friends of Carlingwark have raised over £2000 to renovate our outdoor spaces. They do so much for our care home and this has been a fantastic collaborative community project. Our staff also secured donations from local businesses. The people we support will love growing their own vegetables and sitting out in the tranquil gardens.”
Iain Howie, member of the Winifred Kennedy Trust and Regional Ambassador for Age Scotland, says: “The Trust was really keen to support this project. We hope that the donation will help residents to enjoy the great outdoors more, and nurturing or developing their gardening skills.”
