Veteran artist recognised with dementia charity award

AN ARTIST in his eighties whose work has already received the “royal seal of approval” has been recognised with an award for his dedication to a local dementia charity.

Dinnington artist Nick Summerbell donated designs from his collection of artworks for use as Christmas cards last year for Maltby-based music and dementia charity Lost Chord UK, where he has volunteered for more than a decade — with one even being sent to the new King Charles.

In recognition of his generous gesture, and more than ten years of support, Nick (88) was named Lost Chord UK’s volunteer of the year, receiving his special prize from the Mayor of Rotherham, Cllr Tajamal Khan.

Chief executive Clare Langan said: “Nick is now experiencing memory loss but he is still finding ways to support the charity that he loves so very much and has devoted so many hours to over the years.

“Nick chose four paintings from his extensive collection for us to use as Christmas cards and I was grateful, too, that he allowed me to share his story as we both believe it shows that a memory loss diagnosis doesn’t stop you from volunteering or from making a real impact in people’s lives.

“One lovely extra detail is that we sent one of the cards to King Charles and actually received a reply from the palace thanking us for our thoughtfulness.”

All profits from the sale of the cards went towards funding Lost Chord’s interactive music sessions at care homes and day centres across the region.

In addition to volunteering at the charity’s community session at St Leonard’s Church in Dinnington, Nick said he was also “very excited” about creating a new selection of cards for Christmas 2023, in addition to a range of Lost Chord UK notelets.