THE JOLLY Trolley is coming to Keighley to bring joy and laughter to people living with dementia.

Dementia Friendly Keighley is buying the interactive activity machine to use with all its groups and events around the town.

The trolley features sensory lighting, bright clear images, tactile items to touch, and nostalgic music and films to stir happy memories for people with dementia.

Dementia Friendly Keighley (DFK) has received a £2,000 grant to cover half the cost of a trolley from Jersey-based charity the Green Hall Foundation which works to improve the lives of sick, elderly, disabled or disadvantaged people.

The Jolly Trolley was designed by Tony Grundy, product manager of Colne-based Little Islands, creators of "unique, interactive environments".

Tony understands the needs of people living with dementia because he worked in care homes for over 30 years.

Maggie Marsden, a trustee of DFK, said “Little Islands have brought one of their trolleys to several of our events and it never fails to create a lively and fun atmosphere.

"Music and pictures are key to communication and expression, and greatly help those living with dementia to engage in meaningful activities.

"We are so grateful to the Green Hall Foundation for granting us the money to allow us to buy one of our own; it will be put to good use at all our events, during reminiscence activities and it will be a regular feature at our monthly Singing Teapot sessions.”

Maggie said Little Islands were particularly proud when the Jolly Trolley was shortlisted for the Design in Mental Health Awards 2019 for product innovation of the year.

Also this month, DFK received an "out of the blue" donation of £4,166 from global energy company Greenergy which will help pay for the Jolly Trolley.

Maggie said: "At DFK we have to work hard to raise the money for our activities and services so to be advised of such a large donation about which we knew nothing was something of a surprise.

"We received an email saying that the donation was on its way and asking for bank details. I was a bit cautious at first and thought I ought to check it out to make sure it wasn’t a scam. I contacted the company for more information."

Jennifer Priestley, Greenergy's manager for corporate and legal affairs, said groups of employees were given a budget for charitable donations. The Tees and Yorkshire Drivers team nominated Dementia Friendly Keighley.

Greenergy said DFK could spend the money on whatever it wanted, but preferably something that would result in the most human benefit.

Maggie added: "We will definitely use some of the cash from Greenergy to fund the remaining cost of the trolley and will have plenty left for other initiatives."