The annual Fingal Bay craft fair will return on Saturday, and organisers are inviting the whole community to attend and help them hit a fundraising goal.
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Fingal Haven Craft Group hopes to raise $7000 from its craft fair, which will help volunteer crafters buy a second robotic seal for residents living with dementia in Bill King Aged Care Facility.
“Our major purchase for the nursing home this year has been Paro the robotic seal,” craft group member Judy Greenwood said.
“Paro is a therapy tool which is producing remarkable results worldwide in people suffering with dementia. We are striving to raise enough money to purchase a second robot.”
In the past 12 months the group has used the funds it has raised to buy Paro, worth $7600, and two electric beds for the nursing home.
Paro responds to touch, temperature and voice cues with gentle seal-barking, blinking, eye contact and nuzzling. It even knows its name.
Carole Gorman, care coordinator at Bill King Aged Care Facility, said people with dementia who are often withdrawn and anxious responded positively to Paro.
A second Paro, for the second floor of the nursing home, would help carers continue to achieve the results they have seen when residents interact with the robotic seal.
Ms Gorman thanked Fingal Haven Craft Group for their continued support and fundraising activities.
“The things we have we wouldn’t have without the support of these wonderful ladies,” she said.
The craft group is a made up with volunteers who enjoy creating. The group has been running for more than 20 years, founded to help raise funds for the nursing home.
The annual craft fair, running for as long as the group has been established, is the major fundraiser for the year.
“Members of the group work throughout the year to create a range of items to sell at the fair,” Ms Greenwood said.
There will be a number of stalls set up for the fair this year, which will be held at Fingal Haven Village on Saturday, April 21 between 8am and 1pm.
Trash and treasure, cakes, plants and crafts including table runners, embroidered towels, children and babies knitted and crocheted clothes will be for sale.
There will be a Devonshire morning tea, sausage sizzle and raffles available on the day as well.
The craft room, in the building next to Bill King, is open on Tuesdays between 10am and 3pm. Anyone outside of the Fingal residential village is welcome to visit the room and purchase handcrafted goods on this day.
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