IT is a wild and windy afternoon in rainy East Kilbride, but inside Memory Lane, the welcome is warm.

An old-fashioned clock ticks on the mantelpiece, the table is set with teacups and saucers, and there is cake. Lots and lots of cake.

“Today we are celebrating a special woman’s birthday, so we decided to splash out on cake,” explains Andrew Craig, of the 6th East Kilbride Beaver Scouts, as he serves up generous slices of chocolate sponge.

The “special woman” is Carol McKechnie, activities co-ordinator at Hairmyres Hospital, and one of the main driving forces behind Memory Lane, an initiative to help older patients, particularly those with dementia, cope better while in hospital.

Andrew and a team of young Scouts visit the project, based beside Ward 13, spending time with the patients, listening to their stories, helping make up memory boxes and singing songs with them.

The results, agrees Carol and her colleague, charge nurse Lorraine McWilliams, have been fantastic.

“The men and women who use Memory Lane are all suffering from some kind of cognitive issue, and many have dementia,” explains Carol.

“The idea behind setting up this room as a 1940s living room was to create a less clinical, more homely place for them to come and do different activities.

“Having young people coming in has made a huge difference. Children see these older patients as people, which is something we are passionate about reinforcing.

“This lady or that man is not simply ‘someone with dementia’ - they are real people, with lives and families and memories. Children see them simply as people like their grans and grandpas, and that makes a big difference in how they treat them, and how the older patients respond.”

Lorraine adds: “When my generation was growing up, our grannies were around all the time, looking after us. Some of these older people don’t get to see their grandchildren, and so being able to connect with young people, and share stories and just chat to them, has been fantastic.”

Memory Lane is a particular passion of Carol’s, who has spent hours of her free time scouring charity shops and jumble sales to source tea sets, hat stands, old advertising posters and even some china dogs for the mantelpiece.

She smiles: “It’s been really well received. The children who come and visit also benefit too - they get the chance to understand a bit more about dementia, for example, and also, it takes some of their fears away about hospitals and ill health.”

Andrew, who is helping to stage a dementia-friendly screening of The Wizard of Oz at East Kilbride Odeon Luxe next month, agrees.

“The number of people in Scotland living with dementia is increasing so we have been working to increase awareness and support those living locally as part of the national Scouting campaign A Million Hands,” he explains.

“Our young people get the benefit of doing something selfless, helping older people and knowing they have provided comfort and entertainment.

“We’re delighted to be staging the cinema screening on February 8th, in conjunction with the dementia team at Hairmyres, Odeon Luxe and Park Circus - we are very grateful for their support. Watching and enjoying films that older adults with dementia remember from their childhood is extremely beneficial for them.”

Rose Young, 82, from Hamilton, has been in Hairmyres since falling ill on Christmas Day. The great-grandmother says Memory Lane is one of her favourite places.

“It’s wonderful, it takes your mind off being in hospital,” she says. “I lost my husband Thomas last year, after 51 years of marriage. Sometimes you can feel a bit lonely.”

“Coming here is wonderful. Carol and the other women who look after us are absolutely fantastic - you will not find better people anywhere else.”

Cub Scout Iona Craig, nine, who held the room spellbound when she sang in Gaelic, says: “I love singing, and it’s nice to be able to do it for people in hospital.”

Her brother Finlay, 12, adds: “It’s good to be able to help older people feel better. It’s important people understand more about dementia.”

Fellow Scouts Hannah McGhie, 10, and her brother Gabriel, seven and Murron Anderson, seven, and her brother Hamish, six, all enjoyed colouring in pictures for Rose and fellow patients Morag McMillan and Janette Chapman.

Murron sums it up. “I like doing this because it makes people happy,” she says.