Image © Robin Clewley
This week (15 – 21 May) is Dementia Awareness Week – an annual event organised by Alzheimer’s Society as an opportunity for everyone across England, Wales and Northern Ireland to unite against dementia.Current figures suggest that more than 850,000 people are living with dementia in the UK and 550,000 are acting as primary carers. At National Museums Liverpool we understand the importance of recording and caring for people’s memories and we are passionate about enhancing the wellbeing of people living with dementia and their carers.
Our award-winning House of Memories dementia awareness programme has been running since 2012 and offers innovative training and resources, developed to support carers in the sharing of memories with people living with dementia.
Image © Tadhg Devlin and the SURF dementia group, 2016
To mark Dementia Awareness Week we’re delighted to be showcasing Life Beyond Diagnosis, at the Museum of Liverpool – a collaborative project between photographer Tadhg Devlin and the Merseyside-based Service User Reference Forum (SURF) Group.
In partnership with Open Eye Gallery and Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust, the project aims to raise awareness around dementia in a creative and engaging way, helping the SURF group to share their personal stories about how they live with dementia.
In the spirit of Dementia Awareness Week we have a number of memory-based events and activities taking place, including Memory Walks, Remember when…?, Poetry live, and Meet me at the museum.
Household-themed memory box available to buy from the House of Memories online shop
You can also purchase House of Memories resources and activities to do during Dementia Awareness Week from our new online shop, download the My House of Memories app, or visit our website to book on to our next workshop for family carers taking place on 20 June.
To mark National Memory Day on Thursday 18 May National Museums Liverpool’s Carol Rogers, Executive Director, Education and Visitors, spoke to BBC Radio Merseyside alongside Gina Shaw from the SURF Group. You can listen in here from 1:26:00 until 1:32:00.
Members of the SURF group will also be visiting us on Friday 19 May and will be on hand to chat to you throughout the day.
Come and get involved, tweet us @house_memories and find out more about Dementia Awareness Week on the Alzheimer’s Society website.