A South Lakes social enterprise has been awarded over £180,000 by the National Lottery.
The three-year grant will help Dignity in Dementia cover the salary of a specialist and work with Cumbria Wildlife Trust and St Mary’s Hospice on a Woodland Wellness project.
Soon after lockdowns were relaxed, the organisation trialled an innovative programme of sessions for people living with dementia and their family carers in the woods on Arnside Knott.
The sessions were loosely based on the forest school model, with participants creating nature-related art, enjoying woodland-themed quizzes, stories and poems, eating soup warmed on a firepit and singing outdoor-related songs.
As the trial was so successful, the programme continued and Dignity in Dementia felt that others affected by dementia living in other parts of the county, should have the opportunity to access something similar.
They established a partnership with Cumbria Wildlife Trust, which has suitable sites at their nature reserves across Cumbria and will run sessions from nature reserves in Penrith, Carlisle, Kendal, Walney and the west coast. St Mary’s Hospice in Ulverston will also trial them with outpatients in the hospice grounds.
