Bedlington-based Mind Active charity given £3,000 grant for lunch clubs

Mind Active provides stimulating mental activities in residential homes, and helps people with conditions such as dementia to continue to play a role in their local community.The Bedlington-based organisation, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary, operates across the Castle Morpeth, Wansbeck and Blyth Valley areas, and delivers a wide variety of events and activities.

These range from exercise sessions, fellowship groups, concerts, picnics and school and animal visits to trips out to places like The Alnwick Garden and Plessey Woods.

It has been awarded £3,000 from the Newcastle Building Society to help it cope with the ongoing cost of living crisis, and pay for a series of lunch clubs.As well as the elderly, Mind Active also works with bereaved carers and families for as long as they feel they need its support.

Stephen Ward, the charity’s founder, said: “Many of the inclusive practices that are commonplace in residential homes today had never been heard of when we began introducing them 20 years ago, but the benefits to our beneficiaries, their families and care staff became very clear very quickly.

“Keeping active, both mentally and physically, is the key to our beneficiaries feeling they are still valuable members of society and all the activities we organise are designed to help to achieve this goal.

“The transformations that we often see from sleepy inactive residents to vibrant, lively and socially interactive people shows how much of a difference our approach can make, and as we celebrate our 20th year, we’re looking to keep doing as much as we can to make a difference to the lives of our older local residents.

“The funding we’ve received from Newcastle Building Society has come along just at the right time, especially with the cost of delivering our work continuing to rise, and it’ll make a big difference to what we can do.”

Vanessa Hudson, of Newcastle Building Society, said: “Mind Active’s proactive approach and the longstanding commitment of its team are clearly having a hugely positive impact across local communities and we’re very pleased to be able to be supporting such an effective and impressive charity.”