Fareham studio to raise money for dementia with forget-me-not flower tattoos

Eclipse tattoo studio, in Fareham, is offering the forget-me-not design for their Alzheimer's Society fundraiser.

Anyone wishing to get the tattoo will make a donation of £25 '“ with all proceeds going to the charity that supports people with dementia.

Co-owner Shelley Stevens said the idea came from a similar event they did three years ago. Then, they tattooed pink cancer ribbons to fundraiser for Cancer Research UK and the Rowans Hospice.

Shelley, 46, said: '˜I was raised by my grandparents and I lost both of them to dementia.

'˜Going through it first-hand and seeing what they go through made me want to do another fundraiser.

'˜The cancer ribbon event was so successful so we were keen to do something similar again.'

Shelley said it was more difficult to come up with a design that people would recognise and associate with the condition.

'˜The cancer ribbon is instantly recognisable,' she added.

'˜But it was slightly harder for dementia because we didn't want to use a logo or anything. We thought the blue forget-me-not flower was very apt due to its name and how a lot of people will be getting these tattoos in memory of others.

'˜It was only after we drew it up we realised the Alzheimer's Society has a blue flower as part of its logo.

'˜We think the design is suitable for anyone and is subtle but still tells that message and story.'

Eclipse, on Redlands Lane, will be doing the fundraiser on October 27 between 10am and midnight.

Three years ago, they did the fundraiser for 24 hours but Shelley said people stopped turning up in the early hours of the morning so decided to cut back the time for this event.

The studio will only be doing the forget-me-not tattoos and people do not need to book but should just show up.

Shelley said: '˜We will have a few artists in and we don't imagine these designs will take very long to do which is why we won't be booking appointments.

'˜We are all really looking forward to it though after the success of three years ago.

'˜We managed to raise £3,400 for the two charities and we are hoping to reach a similar amount this time too.'