A NEW charity shop – opened with help from the Donate £1 for Dementia campaign’s giant pound coin – will raise money for people with dementia and their carers.

The Bolton Dementia Support group shop in Bury Road, Tonge Fold, opened its doors to customers last week with help from Andy Lee, charitable fundraiser at Bolton NHS Charitable Fund.

Manned by volunteers, the shop will sell clothes, bric-a-brac, ornaments, games, toys and books and will be open between 9.30am and 4pm on Mondays through to Saturdays.

Businesses including Mick at Masterclass, Howdens, Stax, Morrisons, B&Q, Bolton Carpet Services and Signs and Graphics pitched in to refurbish the shop.

Janet Mitton, Bolton Dementia Support committee member, said: “The money we make from the shop will go towards funding and making life for people living with dementia and their carers the support they rightly deserve.

“The money will support the group as a whole – we are the only dementia support group in Bolton.

“We are also hoping to be able to employ nurses to provide care in people’s homes.”

In future, Bolton Dementia Support group plans to open more charity shops in other areas of the borough.

The Bolton News campaign – launched on June 22 in partnership with Bolton NHS Charitable Fund – hopes to raise £200,000 to make wards at the Royal Bolton Hospital dementia-friendly.

Fundraisers have been supporting the appeal by taking ‘pound selfies’ with £1 coins and sharing these on social media using the hashtag #D14D.

The campaign will provide things which make the hospital environment, familiar and easy to use for patients with dementia but are not covered by NHS funding.

This will include equipment to allow brighter or softer lighting at different times, a 1960s-themed communal lounge for patients to sit and talk in, dementia-friendly signs, memory prompting boxes, nostalgic pictures and coloured toilet seats and handrails.

Initially, the fundraising will pay for complex care ward C4 to be made a completely dementia-friendly environment.

This space will be the prototype so that when other wards are focussed on as part of the hospital’s ongoing refurbishment programme, they too can be made dementia friendly.

Families, schools, businesses and groups across Bolton are being urged to donate at least £1 to the appeal.