FORGET-ME-NOT flowers reflecting the theme of dementia now decorate one of the former phone cabins in North Berwick.

Residents of Fidra Nursing Home alongside pARTicipate art group have collaborated to give the cabins a new lease of life.

The display was the idea of Fidra’s activities coordinator Clare Overton, who wanted to commemorate Dementia Awareness Week by making ‘Forget-me-Nots’, the symbol of Dementia Friendly North Berwick.

Clare began collecting the materials for her art project and realised that the bottom of fizzy drinks bottles made the perfect flower shape.

The residents painted the bottom of the bottle and then printed them onto paper.

Clare said: “Many of our residents were creative before I met them and it was a pleasure to see them rediscovering their talents and abilities. For others it was a new experience, but all found a sense of achievement.

“We took several of them to see their work completed and they were all so proud.”

Clare approached Dementia Friendly North Berwick about her project.

The group pointed her in the direction of Geraldine Prince from pARTicipate art group, who organised an artist to install the piece in one of the phone cabin micro-museums on North Berwick High Street.

It was Julia Zeller-Jacques who accepted the challenge of installing the display.

Julia said: “I found the ideas moving and also stimulating. I wanted – literally – to reflect the experience of dementia sufferers so it would have an impact on the wider public.

“I decided to line the telephone booths with mirrors both to maximise the impact and also to allow anyone looking at the artworks to see themselves reflected in the space.

“Dementia can affect anyone and anyone can take an interest and give someone living with dementia the patience and respect the need.”

Geraldine, arts activities coordinator at pARTicipate, said: “People are liking it. It is exactly a year since we got permission from the council to take the cabins and give them a makeover.

“They are going to achieve their full potential. I even cleaned the cabins and gave them their first coat of paint.

“We have received a variety of grants, funds and sponsorships which has allowed us to make this possible and enable people who might not think of themselves as artists to make something beautiful and have it displayed in the town.

“It is something beautiful coming from the community, for the community.”

On seeing her work displayed, Frances Dinwoodie, Fidra resident, said: “I didn’t think that arts and crafts was my cup of tea but once I started painting I really did enjoy it and when I saw the display I thought it looked so fantastic I actually felt like crying.”