GENEROUS shoppers helped raise  £1,000 for the Donate £1 for Dementia campaign in three days.

Fundraisers for the campaign shook buckets in the Market Place shopping centre on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

They collected £330 on Thursday, £256 on Friday and more than £400 on Saturday.

The Donate £1 for Dementia campaign, launched in the Bolton News last month in partnership with Bolton NHS Charitable Fund, aims to raise £200,000 to pay for dementia-friendly facilities at the Royal Bolton Hospital.

Andy Lee, charitable fundraiser for Bolton NHS Charitable Fund, said: “It is fantastic to see how generous the people of Bolton have been with this appeal.

“We have had a lot of people telling us they are familiar with the campaign and that they have been following it in the Bolton News, which is fantastic.

“The number of people who have come up to us talking about their experiences with dementia, and how it has affected them or their families, has also been surprising – it just shows this campaign is something everyone can relate to.”

On Saturday the campaign team met fundraisers from Salford Red Devils Foundation, who were also collecting in the Market Place.

The Salford Red Devils Foundation donated half of their takings on the day to the appeal and have invited Donate £1 for Dementia representatives to fundraise in the stadium at a match during the coming months.

Funding from the campaign will pay for special equipment allowing brighter or softer lighting at different times, and a 1960s-themed communal lounge for patients to sit and talk in.

Hospital staff plan to install dementia-friendly signs to help patients remember where their hospital bed is and how to get to the toilet.

Bathrooms will be fitted with different coloured toilet seats and handrails – as dementia sufferers can find it hard to distinguish between different white objects – and there will be memory prompting boxes and nostalgic pictures.

The hospital has £1.5 million available for refurbishments but a total of £1.7 million is needed.

Initially, complex care ward C4 will become a dementia-friendly environment with the space used as a prototype so other wards can be made dementia friendly when they come up for refurbishment.

To make a donation: go to boltonft.nhs.uk/get-involved/charitable-giving/ and click on the Virgin Money Giving logo, text DOFD15 with an amount, in £, to 70070 or send a cheque to payable to Bolton NHS Charitable Fund to Charitable Funds Department, Dowling House, Royal Bolton Hospital, Minerva Road, Bolton, BL4 0JR.

Groups, schools and businesses which would like the giant £1 to visit a fundraising event should email andy.lee@boltonft.nhs.uk