Due to the ongoing impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, fundraising from 2021 and 2022 was combined into one round of grants distributed in 2022.
Music for My Mind
Charity Reg: 1167246
£1,000
Music for my Mind is an innovative young charity aiming to improve the well-being of people living with dementia, their family, friends and care providers, by creating and making personalised music playlists widely available, as an affordable therapy in dementia care. Research has shown that listening to music can help to: recreate connections with relatives, reduce reliance on drug treatments and manage anxiety, combat depression and ease stress during difficult care events.
Our grant was used to support Phase 2 of promoting a web-based app for the family, friends or carers of anyone living with dementia to create a personalised playlist for their loved one. It also contributed to staff costs for the project, which had a total budget of £74,500 (the remainder being funded from other grants and the charity’s unrestricted income). More than 290 people used the app in 2022 to create a personalised playlist, and 89% of responders to the feedback survey said it made them more cheerful and 70% said that music made them less agitated or anxious.
Wivey Cares
Charity Reg: 1183575
£1,300
Wivey Cares is a small charity established to link people in Wiveliscombe, Somerset who want support to volunteers and local self-employed people (Micro-Providers) who offer a range of services, such as personal care, companionship, support in the Home, help with paperwork and generic advocacy. We donated to them in 2018 to support the establishment of a Memory Cafe in Wiveliscombe.
These funds were used to support the ongoing activity of the Memory Activity Group at the Memory Café to become an established resource for people in the Wiveliscombe area living with dementia. Initially meetings ran once a fortnight, attended by a person living with dementia and their carer. Reminiscence learning, a local organisation with great expertise (and previous recipient of Remembering Not to Forget funds), shared activities in the sessions and the carers have been able to take these activities back home to further support the person living with dementia. Sessions were increased to run weekly; attendance numbers are growing and the group has become much more closely knit with friendships being established.
Opera Holland Park, Opera for Thought project
Charity Reg: 1096273
£1,500
Opera Holland Park is London’s first dementia friendly opera company. They have partnered with Resonate Arts for more than seven years to run projects for people living with dementia and their carers, aiming to boost confidence, well-being and access to the arts. The project ran over three weeks, focusing on Eugene Onegin by Tchaikovsky. 15-20 attendees took part in creative sessions based on the opera, and attended a special performance of it at the end of the three weeks.
Funds raised in 2020 at the funeral of Sara Turnbull (Remembering Not to Forget supporter and family member of trustees) were ringfenced for this project, as Sara was a great supporter of Opera Holland Park. The project was delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Forget Me Knot club, Chard
£500
The Forget Me Knot club in Chard is run by MHA. Our funds were used to support this weekly group for people living with dementia in the Chard area providing a social environment and stimulating activities as well as a respite for carers/ family members. Funds were used to purchase new equipment such as games and crafting equipment as well as contributing to the hire of the hall and the facilitator’s salary.
Activities of the group were suspended during the Covid-19 pandemic. Funds raised in earlier rounds of fundraising were ringfenced for this project once lockdown restrictions were fully lifted.
