Patients with dementia get the chance to follow the Swans thanks to season ticket donation

Patients with dementia will get the chance to follow Swansea City this season following the donation of football season tickets to Cefn Coed Hospital.

Patients on Derwen Ward, which supports people living with dementia, will be taken to watch Swansea City FC play to give them a break away from the hospital and experience some normality in their lives.

Ward manager Deborah Morgan said: “We have had former Swansea players here with dementia in the past and what we notice is when the football is on telly they really enjoy it.

“We are a mixed dementia and functional ward and a lot of them really want to go to the football. It’s something they really want to do.

“So it just came into my head one day, I wondered if we could get some season tickets.

“I spoke to Nigel Stevenson, one of our physios, who’s an ex Swansea player about it and then I thought of my friend Phil Lake, to see if he had any connections to how whether we could find any season tickets that could be purchased at discount. But instead he kindly purchased them for us and donated them to the ward.

 “I think it’s just about getting them back into the community and normality. If that’s what they enjoy and it gets them off the ward for a while, that’s great, particularly the ones who aren’t so far advanced.

“Obviously we’ll work with the families and risk assess them but I think it will be good for them and they’ll enjoy it, so we are hugely grateful.”

TV sets

The Swans season ticket is not the first time local businessman Mr Lake has helped out the ward.

During the Covid lockdown he donated five TV sets, and he has also gifted a number of electronic tablets.

Mr Lake, who runs Lakeside Security and Lakeside Flood Solutions, said: “We try and support as many charities in Swansea as we can, especially at the Liberty Stadium with the hospitals and local schools.

“I’ve known Debbie for a long time and anything we can do to help out with we will.”

Nigel Stevenson, who also represented Wales at football, has been working in physiotherapy at Cefn Coed for 25 years.

He added: “I’ve known Phil for a very long time and it’s a great gesture of his.

“It will be fantastic for those who are able to use the tickets. There are a lot of people here who follow the football and follow the Swans and I’m sure they’ll get a great deal of enjoyment out of them.”