£20,000 plan for park improvements
A Stirling park has been boosted by a £20,000 cash injection that will see it become a haven for people affected by dementia.
Stirling’s Kings Park will benefit from the additional funding that will see Paths For All bring a host of changes to improve it.
Based on discussion with Stirling Walking Network and similar projects across the country, Paths for All have identified a number of ways in which the park could be more accessible to people living with dementia.
The suggested improvements include better signs, improvements to path and planting areas and dementia-friendly events and activities.
Park staff and volunteers would also benefit from dementia-friendly training.
Paths for All encourage people to be more active by joining weekly health walks, where they have opportunities to be part of something that is meaningful to them as well as participating in healthy, stimulating activities.
A total of £15,000 of the funding is coming from Life Changes Trust and £5000 from Paths for All. Some of this will be used to fund a development officer to work on the project part-time for 12 months.
The money is part of £100,000 of funding for Scottish projects from the William Grant Foundation, working with the Life Changes Trust. The trust invested £300,000 in Paths for All in 2015.
Nick Addington, chief executive of the William Grant Foundation, said:“We are interested in how people can be supported to live well with dementia and believe that community connections and relationships are key to this.
“Dementia-friendly communities are therefore a good place to start for our foundation as we begin funding projects in this space.
“Partnering with the Life Changes Trust and the projects they already fund around Scotland gives us a fast track to learning about what’s already happening, while giving several effective organisations the chance to try out some new ideas with our funds.”