Instead of birthday presents, a generous young man called Chester, chose to raise money to buy dolls for Dementia patients at The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust.
The space-themed party took place at the end of January and raised over £150 for the Dementia Appeal.
Lucy Davies, Chester’s Mum, said “After hearing about doll therapy for patients in hospital, Chester, wanted to be able to raise money so he could donate these items instead of having birthday presents this year. We prepared a booklet for people at the party to explain about the dementia fund and they thought the charity idea was brilliant.”
Karen Breese, Dementia Nurse Specialist at the Trust said “What a wonderful young man! We are over the moon that Chester wanted to support the Dementia Appeal. Hospital can be a disorientating and often frightening place for anyone, but this may be considerably worse for someone who is living with dementia. We try to provide appropriate activities to support stimulation to help people to remain alert and motivated whilst they are in our care.
“I am really looking forward to meeting Chester in person and congratulating him when he visits us to drop off the items he has been able to purchase.”
The aim of the Dementia Appeal is to assist SaTH with the creation of dementia-friendly spaces and to buy equipment and resources that will help to reduce confusion, anxiety and distress for people living with dementia. Activities can also reduce like distress on the wards .
Julia Clarke, Director of Public Participation, said “Chester is possibly one of our youngest fundraisers to date and should be very proud of himself.”
You can find out more about our dementia appeal here: Dementia Appeal – SaTH