KNITTERS up and down the country are clicking away after hearing about a Telegraph & Argus appeal to help Bradford patients with dementia.

In the two weeks since the call went out for people to make twiddle muffs - knitted bands with trimmings of ribbons, beads, buttons and zips- Bradford Hospital's lead dementia nurse Danielle Woods has been bombarded with e-mails from as far afield as Aberdeen and London.

"It's been averaging about 20 e-mails a day since the T&A put the story in, yesterday I got 42 emails," she said.

"It's an amazing response from people all wanting the patterns so they can help us. People have also been putting it on Facebook and we couldn't be happier."

The twiddle muff, or cuff, was designed to help combat restlessness and agitation in dementia patients by keeping their hands busy as well as stimulating the mind, they have strands of textured ribbons, beads and various fabrics inside and outside.

Although similar soft material muffs are on sale they are expensive so Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Bradford Royal Infirmary and St Luke's Hospital, decided to put out an appeal for volunteer knitters.

The twiddle muffs have been so popular on wards and day units that nurses were down to their last supplies - so they needed the public to grab their knitting needles to make more twiddle muffs so they could keep up with demand.

Mrs Woods said: "Up to a quarter of our patients at any one time will have a form of dementia and the number is growing.

"With an ageing population here in Bradford, we are seeing more and more people with dementia as more people are living for longer, so we want to make our hospitals, services and environments as dementia-friendly as possible.

"People with dementia tend to fiddle and it can be awkward sometimes especially if they have cannulas, they try to pull them out. The twiddle muffs are a good way of them still fiddling but being focused."

Earlier this month Bradford Teaching Hospitals Trust narrowly missed out on a top national award which it was shortlisted following its £510,000 makeover of the dementia ward at St Luke's Hospital.

The refurbishment team was in the running for the 2014 Building Better Healthcare award for the best internal environment project - but the prize went to Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust instead.

To become a twiddle muff knitter, e-mail: Danielle.woods@bthft.nhs.uk