CARE home residents who are living with dementia are working to help save the planet while boosting their well-being.

Llanrhaeadr Hall, the care home which specialises in older people’s mental health and provides assisted living, wants to become more environmentally friendly and has already started making recycled plastic bricks, with a bee garden in the pipeline.

The projects were introduced by the care home’s activity coordinator Erika Jones, who is competing in this year’s Face of Wales pageant.

She said that she is inspired to improve the living standards of people living with dementia and wanted to use hands-on tasks which also have a positive impact on the environment.

The plastic bricks, made from drinking bottles and two litre containers filled with single-use plastic such as crisp, sweet packets and straws, will be sent to a recycled greenhouse building project in Caernarfon.

The care home, which has 37 residents, occupies the Grade II listed fifteenth century hall in Pentre Llanrhaeadr, four miles from Denbigh, fronted by a tree-lined drive and sweeping views of the Clwydian Range.

Ms Jones said: “I was thinking about ways to get the residents active and I saw that my friends who also compete in pageants had started similar projects. I thought the activities would engage the residents and they are also sensory, involving touching and holding different objects.”

The home has made use of its own plastic waste and collected from staff and residents’ families. In the first three days, the residents and staff together have been able to make 12 bottles.

Ms Jones said: “The residents have really enjoyed the task of getting the rubbish into the bottle so far. One resident with late stage dementia also found comfort in holding a bottle.

“It is beneficial for them that they are having interaction through activities.”

The home also plans to start creating the bee garden by the end of May, planting flowers rich in pollen such as lavender, marigold and oxeye daisy.

Ms Jones said: “We thought not only would the garden benefit the bees but the residents will have the benefits of being outside, planting bee-friendly flowers which are native to Britain.

“It also helps bring back good memories for residents who have enjoyed gardening in the past.

“Everyone in the Llanrhaeadr Hall community is really supportive and we are excited to get going.”