Museums Inspiring Memories – Working for Dementia

Museums Inspiring Memories is a three-year project led by Amgueddfa Cymru in partnership with Alzheimer’s Society Cymru, and is funded by the National Lottery Community Fund. Starting in April 2022 and building on our existing programme of dementia-friendly museum activities, the project aims to work with people living with dementia, unpaid carers, carer sector staff, heritage sector colleagues, and communities and organisations across Wales, to develop and deliver practical ways to engage with and improve the quality of life of people affected by dementia, through access to museum resources and sites.

To achieve this, we will:

  • establish a Dementia Voice in Heritage Group to help steer and shape the project
  • develop and deliver dementia awareness training sessions for staff working within the heritage sector
  • develop and deliver a supportive package for unpaid carers/care sector staff in using museum resources with those they care for
  • create a programme of activities that will enable equitable access to museum resources and sites, for those affected by dementia

Using evidence gathered at sites audits and through conversations with people affected by dementia, heritage sector colleagues and representative organisations, a baseline report of where we were in terms of creating a supportive environment for people affected by dementia at the beginning of the project, was created. A link to the 'Executive Summary' of this can be found below.

Museums Inspiring Memories - A Baseline report: Executive Summary [PDF]

 

“At Alzheimer’s Society we’re working towards a world where dementia no longer devastates lives. We do this by giving help to those living with dementia today, and providing hope for the future. For many people, museums and heritage sites are incredibly important and a constant feature throughout our lifetime. This often ranges from visiting places of historical interest with our parents as a child or on a school trip, to going to places of national interest on holiday. The importance of heritage sites increases as we get older, as a place to relax, recover and engage through multi-sensory stimulation of the environment around us. We’re thrilled to be working in partnership with Amgueddfa Cymru on the Museums Inspiring Memories Project, supporting the development and delivery of practical ways to engage with people affected by dementia and helping to improve health and wellbeing through access to museum resources and sites. We’re extremely pleased of the progress made to date by the Amgueddfa Cymru team and are looking forward to working together further as we explore new and exciting avenues to reach out to communities, further increasing the impact of the project.”

Richie Maiorano, Dementia Friendly Communities – Wales Lead, Alzheimer’s Society Cymru

Cymdeithas Alzheimer’s Cymru Logo

Who we are

Gareth Rees

Gareth Rees – Dementia Voice Lead

Gareth Rees is the Dementia Voice Lead for Amgueddfa Cymru and is responsible for leading the project.

Gareth has personal experience of family members and loved ones living with dementia and knows full well the importance of having connections to the memories and emotions of the past – both for the person living with dementia and carers – and the positive impact that these can have on a person’s health and wellbeing. Gareth’s background is a mixture of heritage and of advocating for an Age-friendly approach in the provision and planning of services. Gareth is passionate in making sure that this project reflects the voices of people affected by dementia, and that it helps bring our sites and collections closer to the community, to the benefit of everyone. Outside of work, Gareth enjoys running, reading, hiking and making models.

You can contact Gareth by email gareth.rees@museumwales.ac.uk or telephone 02920 573 418

 

Sharon Ford

Sharon Ford – Programme Manager

Sharon Ford is the Health & Wellbeing Programme Manager for Amgueddfa Cymru.

She has had personal experience of dementia through close family members, which has made her passionate about making museums more accessible and engaging for people affected by dementia. She is particularly proud of her role in developing the dementia-friendly underground tour at Big Pit, which was co-produced with a group of people living with dementia who subsequently became great friends. When not working at Amgueddfa Cymru, she volunteers for a local heritage building to ensure it remains open as a space for arts, culture and enjoyment for the local community. Sharon also enjoys hiking, running and cooking for friends and family.

You can contact Sharon by email sharon.ford@museumwales.ac.uk or telephone 02920 573681.

 

Fi Fenton

Fi Fenton – Administrative Officer

Fi is the Administrative Officer, working for the project two days a week. She comes from a background of mental health, and administration in the charity sector, and has previously worked for Amgueddfa Cymru for five years as a fundraiser. As someone with experience of caring for a family member living with dementia, Fi feels passionately about working with people affected by dementia and supporting people to take part in and enjoy creative and cultural activities. Outside of work Fi enjoys quilting, sea swimming and learning Welsh.

You can contact Fi by email fi.fenton@museumwales.ac.uk or telephone 02920 573181, or contact the team MIMs@museumwales.ac.uk.

Events and activities

Current events

Dementia Friendly Underground Tours

For more information and to book a space, please visit Dementia Friendly Underground Tours | Museum Wales

Previous events

Dementia Action Week 2023

Dementia Action Week is an annual awareness-raising campaign run by the Alzheimer’s Society. As we look to play a role in improving the quality of life of those affected by dementia, we also want to raise awareness of dementia itself. With this in mind, Amgueddfa Cymru hosted activities with individuals, day centres, community groups, care home residents and organisations throughout Dementia Action Week 2023.

Culture Club taster session

Culture Club taster

Our Consultations: December 2022 to March 2023

A group of people standing outside a row of re-erected cottages

Our consultation at the National Slate Museum, Llanberis, in March 2023

Over the last year, the Museums Inspiring Memories team has been busy consulting with the dementia community across Wales, asking people to share their experiences and thoughts about how we can develop a more dementia-supportive programme of work at our museums.

Between December 2022 and March 2023, we invited people living with dementia, unpaid carers, care sector staff, colleagues from the heritage sector and representative organisations to join our Consultations. In these meetings, people shared their thoughts about some of the barriers that exist for people affected by dementia when engaging with museums, and the care, training and support needs that we would need to address. We also invited suggestions as to who should join our Dementia Voice in Heritage Group, a steering group that will help to shape the activities of the project over the next two years. Alongside these gatherings, we also joined community groups, visited care settings and attended events to capture the thoughts, ideas and lived experiences of as many people as possible.

In total, nearly 240 people have joined us and contributed their ideas. We would like to thank everyone who took part in these events. Your valuable contributions will inform and shape the project as it moves forward over the next two years, particularly as we put in place the Dementia Voice in Heritage Group, develop and launch our training and support packages, and begin to plan our programme of activities.

We will be producing a summary report of all the thoughts and suggestions emerging from these consultations shortly. Meanwhile, to hear about some of the experiences of people attending our consultations, please read our blog.

A big THANK YOU to everyone who took part!!

Our Intergenerational groups

The Blaenavon Intergenerational Group is a monthly dementia-friendly intergenerational group which meets at Big Pit. It involves participants from local communities, such as a group from the local care home, young people from the Hwb setting in Blaenavon and older residents from the community. In 2020, the intergenerational work was awarded the One Voice Wales award for the best community engagement initiative of the year through the partnership with Blaenavon Town Council.

Young onset dementia walking group

The IDEAL project

These videos which demonstrate the potential benefits of engaging with heritage and cultural spaces and collections were produced as part of the ‘Living with Dementia Toolkit’, a resource for people living with dementia and carers, created by the IDEAL programme at the University of Exeter. Based on research and lived experiences, this toolkit has been produced to give hope, to inspire and to offer ideas on how to live the life you choose.

Get in touch

If you have thoughts and ideas about how we can make our sites and resources more accessible, or would like to receive updates as the project develops, please get in touch with us at MIMs@museumwales.ac.uk.

Resources

Click here to find out more about our Objects of Comfort resources.

A logo made up of a blue and yellow flower, with the words Working to become Dementia Friendly to the right.