Merseyside Dementia Friendly Radio CIC

Merseyside Dementia Friendly Radio (MDFR) work in collaboration with those in the dementia community to create and programme content for the benefit of those living in the Merseyside area whose lives are affected by dementia. 

MDFR aim to provide entertainment, signposting, reminiscence resources, mood management, reality orientation and comfort to our beneficiaries whilst ensuring everything is produced and broadcast in a way which is suitable for those that may have perception issues and who may struggle to use modern technology.  

Station manager, Nat Gavin had been supporting his mother Gina Shaw (who has early-onset mixed dementia) as she worked as an ambassador for the Alzheimer's Society and through attending various conferences and events had accumulated a wealth of knowledge about the condition and gained many contacts within the dementia community. 

Nat first conceived of the idea of setting up the station when helping to care for his grandmother in her late stages of dementia and noticing that there was no broadcast media specifically catering for people with the condition.

He decided to combine his 20 years of experience of working in the independent music scene with his new found knowledge of dementia to address the issue and to set up a radio station. 

The station is already broadcasting online 24 hours-a-day, 7 days-a-week. It's been wonderfully received so far and we've had a lot of really positive feedback. 

 "I’m living with dementia Alzheimer’s. The importance of music in dementia Cannot be emphasised enough, that’s why I fully support Merseyside Dementia Friendly Radio. A radio station ran by Nat a person who has total empathy with those of us living with dementia. Music can reach the parts of the brain that normal communication cannot." - Tommy Dunne BEM

Our current goal is to include more people from the dementia community in the creation of content for our station. 

We plan to do this by investing the money we raise into some high quality, plug & play USB microphones, plus associated accessories and courier costs. 

Sounds recorded using phone or laptop microphones can often contain unwanted ambient sounds, distortion and unpleasant audio artefacts that can be confusing and/or distressing for those that may be experiencing perception issues brought on by dementia. As we are currently unable to invite people to record in our studio due to social distancing guidelines, these microphones will provide people with a very easy to use solution to recording the high quality audio that's needed.

These microphones will be sent to people from the dementia community (people living with dementia/home carers/healthcare professionals/academics etc) to record interviews and discussions.

Microphones will also be sent to people who wish to present shows on the station and those that are willing to record additional spoken features such as signposting toward local services, guided exercises, mindfulness, dementia awareness sessions, reality orientation etc.

People who are living with dementia and their carers can often feel a sense of isolation and social exclusion. This has been exacerbated by current social distancing guidelines. 

In addition to this providing important content for station, this project will also encourage a sense of agency and belonging in those that are contributing and will help to make people feel connected and noticed during this time. 

Although these microphones are easy to use, we are producing a series of tutorial videos to guide users through the process of connecting the microphone and  selecting it for use within various software.