POPULAR backer of good causes in the Cowdenbeath-Lochgelly area, Dick Campbell, lost his mother to dementia and now he wants to see a facility created which can greatly help local sufferers and their families.

The Lochgelly man, who is also Forfar Athletic F C manager, has launched a campaign to raise cash to ensure that the new Lumphinnans Care Village, which will start construction next year, ‘will have the best sensory garden in Scotland’.

The sensory garden can greatly help sufferers from the condition by providing elements which encourage interaction.

It’s the concentration of different experiences that defines a sensory garden. Some are passive places, designed to be calming, while others are designed to stimulate activity or to be used within therapeutic programmes.

Dick has seen at first hand how these sensory gardens can greatly help dementia sufferers and was so impressed he wants the new care village, to be built behind Sycamore Crescent, to have the best.

So he has targeted raising upwards of £50,000 to make it happen and he was delighted to receive £2000 from Cowdenbeath Rotary Club to get his campaign into full swing and he has a number of fundraising events coming up.

Dick told the Times, “I lost my mother to dementia and it really is a condition which is so distressing for families.

“You see someone who is very dear to you deteriorate so badly that is really heart searching but it is so re-assuring to discover that a sensory garden can make a real difference to dementia patients.

“Things that they can touch and hear may seem very simple but these can make such a difference to sufferers, so I have set the target of raising as much money as I can to ensure that the new care village in Lumphinnans has the best possible sensory garden money can buy.” Dick (pictured with the Rotary Club’s Marie Shevas and Lesley Porter) has a committee spearheading things. He said that his campaign had just been launched and he welcomed the donation of £2000 from Rotarians’ charities fund to get the ball rolling and he had a number of fundraisers in the pipeline.

“I want to raise as much as possible and Fife Council have given me an assurance that they will match what we raise for the sensory garden,” added the Lochgelly man, “This will be a facility which will make a real difference to people suffering from dementia and I would like to believe we could have the best sensory garden in Scotland at the new care village.” A corner stone of Dick’s fundraising plans is a special autumn ball which will be held at the Carnegie Conference Centre, in Dunfermline, on Saturday 28th November which will have a 6.30pm start and there are several other events which will take place in the coming months.

“I would like to thank Cowdenbeath Rotary Club for getting us off to a good start and I am determined that we will have a facility in this area which will be top rate to assist those suffering from dementia,” concluded Dick.