A WIRRAL charity's 'memory village', built with help from TV legend Anneka Rice, has been officially opened.
Anneka's Village, situated at Age UK's Devonshire Centre in Birkenhead, was created after Anneka took on the challenge to add a memory village for those in Wirral with dementia.
Residents from across the borough joined in helping Anneka and her team to completely refurbish the dementia care building and garden.
The memory village features pods, including a pub, café, cinema, record shop, bakers and post office among other areas for residents to use. It is a 'safe space' where people with dementia can have a cup of tea and a cake and reminisce.
It was officially opened by Wirral's mayor Jerry Williams on Thursday afternoon.
The project was featured on Challenge Anneka, the reboot of the hugely popular 90s show starring Anneka Rice, which is now broadcast on Channel 5.
Anneka was unable to attend the opening event on Thursday, but in a tweet congratulating those involved in the project, wrote: "I adored this project. Trying to build a village in three days was a tad ambitious but now it’s up and running we’ve forgotten the mud…"
Age UK's fundraising events manager Lynne Hamilton told the Globe: "The opening of the memory village is a dream come true for us.
"The village is exactly how we wanted it. It has the 1960s / 70s vibe, with all the bunting, etc, and is perfect for our clients, because everything in these pods is designed to help people reminisce.
"We applied to go on Challenge Anneka almost a year ago, so this has been a year in the making. It's been a long ride.
"We applied and were chosen out of hundreds of applications. It transpires that Anneka's parents both had dementia, so this was very close to her heart.
"She'd always wanted to do a dementia project, so this was perfect. They came, had a look at the site, got the wheels in motion and we got Wirral Council on side.
"This was a Wirral project, it isn't just about Age UK. A lot of people got together and made this happen in a very short space of time."
People and businesses from across Wirral further afield did their bit to help after calls from Anneka.
Among them was Phil Jackson, founder of the Wrexham-based building kit manufacturer Outerspace Group, which provided the flat pack kits to build the memory village's pub, café, cinema, record shop, bakers and post office.
The actual building work was done by Swift Organisation, an Outerspace Group customer.
Phil Jackson said: "This is what we do on a daily basis. We get designs from architects, etc, and put the kits together from that.
"We usually have about five or six weeks to do this, not seven days. But once you've accepted the challenge you can't not do it.
"It's fairly complex building, a lot of parts to it. I think the team enjoyed the challenge from Anneka. My grandparents passed away from dementia, so this was a project close to my heart."
Martin Lawson, from the Swift Organisation, added: "We build a lot of granny annexes, etc so our regular job is dealing with people who have similar conditions, but we're building homes in peoples' gardens.
"So when Bill contacted us to help at the memory village, we jumped at the chance. It was a challenge, but fantastic."
Among the Age UK Wirral clients who use the facility is Chris Gurvin, 60, from Wallasey who was diagnosed with dementia eight years ago.
Commenting on the dementia village, he told the Globe: "It's great, there are things to do like the workshop, where I spend a lot of time with staff, painting, etc, go and watch films in the cinema or play dominoes in the pub.
"It means that instead of being stuck in the one place on a rainy day, for example, you can now enjoy more activities."
At the time work ended on the village, Anneka said: “The idea is that people who use AgeUK can go into this very safe area and wander just around. Everything we put into the village will trigger a memory. It's very 60s based.
“It’s just extraordinary now to see it in action with people playing bowls on the lawn we created in the village green, sitting in the pub having a pint, having a knees up around the piano or sitting in the cinema watching a film.
“I think what made it most poignant is apart from the fact that it’s a very dear subject to me because both my parents had Alzheimer’s but all the volunteers came to help because they were touched by dementia in some way. It’s the most amazing project.
“What all those volunteers are doing in the Wirral is epic. They crack my heart right open.”
I adored this project. Trying to build a village in 3 days was a tad ambitious but now it’s up and running we’ve forgotten the mud… https://t.co/oyFfNky6K8
— Anneka Rice (@AnnekaRice) May 18, 2023
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