The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)

Dementia sufferers set to get new club

- BY JOANNE WARNOCK

A new outdoor activity club, aimed at those living with dementia, has been formed in Aberdeensh­ire making it the first of its kind on Scotland.

The Forget Me Not club’s inaugural outdoor meeting will take place this week and is the inaugural dementia-friendly cycling and structured walking group to have been establishe­d.

Launching from Knockburn sports loch this Sunday, the club is designed to provide confidence to those living with dementia and give them the opportunit­y to remain active, “within a safe and appropriat­e environmen­t, while maintainin­g their independen­ce”.

The Forget Me Not club is a voluntary organisati­on on Deeside, and operations manager Heather Morrison has been involved since the start.

She said: “We are now dealing with a marked increase in younger clients who are not ready for the sedentary programme within our resource centre – this has led us to setting up a new strand called Active Forget Me Not, which operates at a local outdoor sports facility.

“Activities such as dementia-friendly cycling, walking football, walking and kite flying make up a programme more suited to those still physically fit.”

As a means of promoting the club, a family fun day is offering anyone affected by dementia the chance to come along and take part in the family bike relay, the homemade kite competitio­n or the walking football.

New members are welcome to join the club on Sunday from 1pm onwards. More informatio­n is available by phoning 01330 822655.

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