A dementia unit at a south Shropshire care home is set to be transformed by an innovative makeover that will provide a more stimulating environment for its residents.

The interior of the unit at Stone House in Bishops Castle will soon feature specially designed wall features and doors as part of a redecoration scheme that aims to improve the quality of life of people in care.

Stone House is run by Coverage Care, Shropshire’s leading independent care home provider, and is home to up to 40 people at any one time. Its dementia unit was expanded earlier this year to cater for up to 15 people living with the disease.

The £8,500 project will be carried out by Rempods, which came to national attention after its founder Richard Ernest appeared on the BBC TV show Dragon’s Den and secured a £100,000 investment from Deborah Meaden and Peter Jones for his original reminiscence pod business.

The company has now expanded to carry out full redecoration schemes in the care sector and is currently drawing up the final design for Stone House.

It will include artwork such as meadow scenes on windows and walls, an LCD fish tank on the wall, a makeover for bedroom doors to make them look like a front door, and corridor walls being given a brick effect to echo a street scene.

More than £5,500 was raised by staff who organised a series of events including a sponsored walk, garden fete, promise auction and bingo session earlier this year.

The Friends of Stone House also made a £2,000 donation with the remainder of the project’s cost being met by Coverage Care.

Home manager Keturah Bloor said the new look unit would bring tangible benefits to its residents.

“The aim is to provide a more stimulating and therapeutic environment for residents. People with dementia can get confused and struggle to differentiate similar doors within a corridor for example so having ones that look different will help them identify better with their surroundings.

“Artwork on the windows and doors will brighten the unit considerably and offer more variety. Anything we can do to make the lives of our residents more comfortable and help them retain their independence as long as possible is a positive move.”

Keturah added: “I cannot praise the staff enough for their incredible efforts in raising the money to carry out this transformation and for the Friends of Stone House for the generous donation.”

Work is scheduled to start soon with an anticipated completion date in January 2019.