WHEN people think about activities in a nursing home bingo is usually the first thought.

But at the Fairways Newydd home, at Llanfairpwll, on Anglesey, residents are producing high quality furniture.

As part of their activities residents with dementia help paint items of furniture that have been bought from auctions in Gaerwen and bring old chairs, tables and stools back to life.

Activities coordinator Pam Cuffin said: “I wonder whether doing this allows the person to feel useful and skilled, and whether we are giving people a purpose that feeds a sense of worth.

“We’ve noticed that this is not something that happens so easily when just painting on paper, there is something about handling a three dimensional object, perhaps in a way that our residents did earlier in life, that provides this window into a different experience.”

During the renovations visitors often hear the the residents singing. The furniture was auctioned off at Morgan Evans last Thursday in six lots and £160 raised and Morgan Evans donated 20% buyers premium, will replenish stocks of non-allergenic paint and furniture.