Aviva Community Fund has provided £905 of match funding
The Memory Box Project
Southampton, England, United Kingdom
Aim
To deliver remote Memory Box reminiscence sessions by Skype for isolated elderly people living with Dementia
Due to COVID-19 we have had to adapt our usual free-of-charge, volunteer-led, face-to-face Memory Box reminiscence sessions for elderly people with Dementia in hospitals, care homes and day care centres in Hampshire and East Dorset. In addition, there are an increasing number of elderly people with Dementia who are shielding and are isolated at home. Funds will be used to enable remote Skype sessions and support so that carers and family can continue to use our collection of themed sensory Memory Boxes. These contain original and replica items and activities designed to trigger memories in Dementia patients.
The Memory Box trains volunteers to deliver hands-on Dementia strategies across hospital sites, care homes and day centres in the wider community. However, due to COVID, provision for dementia support in hospitals and care homes is on hold. We have adapted a limited number of COVID-safe Memory Boxes for delivery to users which can be regularly cleaned, sealed and dated to mitigate the risk of infection. To accompany these we need to purchase 5 sets of laptops, 40 tablets, headsets, microphones and cases to enable staff and volunteers to carry out Skype support and reminiscence sessions for care homes and isolated individuals. We also need to create and print 6,000 Memory Box Reminiscence Booklets, laminated for infection control. Our partner care organisations have agreed to distribute these reminiscence activity booklets, free of charge, on their regular welfare checks to isolated elderly people living with Dementia – these organisations include Age Concern (Hampshire), Carers in Southampton and SCIA (Social Care in Action).
This project successfully funded on 23rd March 2021