A Lions club member has returned to the hospital ward where he was cared for to thank staff with a donation.

Peter Farrington, 71, a long-standing member of Bungay Area Lions Club, returned to the Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust’s (NSFT) Hammerton Court specialist dementia unit in Norwich, where he thanked Beach Ward staff for the care he received.

And in honour of that care, the club has donated £200 to the NSFT Charitable Fund.

Mr Farrington, who spent several weeks on the acute care ward earlier this year, said: “It was brilliant. There were no problems whatsoever. The nurses couldn’t do enough.

“All the staff were really nice, and the food wasn’t too bad either. If I have to go anywhere again, I’d like to come back here.”

He was admitted to the ward for assessment and treatment, and made such good progress that he was later transferred to NSFT’s Carlton Court older people’s unit, near Lowestoft, before being able to return home to Beccles.

Mr Farrington, who has lived with Parkinson’s disease for 15 years, was admitted after a number of falls and was diagnosed with Lewy body dementia.

Among the possible symptoms associated with this form of dementia are slow movement, stiff limbs and tremors, fainting spells, unsteadiness and falls.

Mr Farrington, who was accompanied on the visit by his 19-year-old grandson Callum Rider, said: “My wife, Heather, is wonderful. She does so much, but she was struggling to cope. My coming to Beach Ward gave her a bit of a break too.

“Callum raised most of the money himself running a stall at the last car rally. I’m very proud of him.”

Donna Townshend, senior occupational therapist, said: “We are so grateful to the Lions for this generous donation, and to Peter for coming back to visit us and present the cheque himself. It means a lot to us.”

Mr Farrington has been a Lion for more than 30 years, serving in most roles, including as president six times.

Dawn Yull, a member of the Bungay Area Lions, said: “Our members do a lot of work fundraising for good causes, and when we heard about how well the staff at Beach Ward had looked after Peter, we wanted to use some of the funds we had raised to say thank you.”