IN Jolly Good Company is a dementia friendly organisation that works with all ages to bring friendship, joy and a sense of community to older people living in Dorset.

It helps alleviate the physical and mental issues caused by loneliness and isolation through activities including art, gardening and day trips. It has two allotments at Shaftesbury and Kington Lacy where members meet to work, chat and enjoy being outdoors.

The group even has its own Jolly YouTube channel and you can see an example here.

In Jolly Good Company received £720 from our Wessex Water Recovery Fund to set up a new dementia friendly gardening group in Blandford, working with Dementia Friendly Blandford and the town council.

I like coming here, we have a lot of laughs and it is like being with family

Staff member Sarah Rampton said the charity plans  to run two groups a month. “We have been asked by the town council if we can help to maintain and improve the sensory garden in the Woodhouse Gardens,” she said.

“We are also able to use the adjoining pavilion, which has an excellent accessible loo and a small kitchen. It is hoped that (once Covid allows) we will be able to provide indoor activities such as music, craft, quizzes, in fact anything that makes the people attending happy.”

The group says it is is playing an important role in the improvement of people’s physical and mental health. “The activities on offer help us to look beyond lost skills to focus on the positivity of what we are able to do now. This gives a sense of satisfaction and achievement.

“Our indoor and outdoor sessions will encourage staying physically active and promote better health. We want to help people make the most of their lives, feel important, needed and an integral part of a group.”

As member Andy says: “I like coming here, we have a lot of laughs and it is like being with family.”

Find out more about the group here.

Mental Health Awareness Week , which is hosted by the Mental Health Foundation, is in its 21st year.

This year, the theme for the week is ‘Nature’. Across the country, people will be celebrating the mental health benefits of being around nature in their local community in a range of digital and creative ways.

Share images/videos/or just sound recordings of the nature on your doorstep (and how this made you feel) on social media using #ConnectWithNature and #MentalHealthAwarenessWeek.”

Find more details about the week here.