Reminiscence Learning were very pleased to receive funding from us towards the ongoing costs of their community sessions. They are a charity based in Wellington, Somerset, that works to help and support local people living with dementia, together with their families and carers through activity sessions and respite care.
The sessions include their Respite Activity sessions, Together in Sport session, Creative Arts Project and their Memory Activity Group.
Their clients and attendees across the community particularly enjoy the musical entertainment and the physical exercise sessions that they provide. For some of their clients this is the difference in being able to leave the house and attend a social event throughout the week or remaining isolated.
They are seeing escalating rates of attendees across each of their services and feedback states that their clients particularly enjoy the consistency of the sessions. Consistency and the knowledge of a pre-planned diary for the week is vital for their clients and has enormous mental and physical benefits for the carers and loved ones who accompany them.
They have one particular member who attends the majority of their services. He lives with dementia and his wife is his carer. His wife frequently updates the charity on how her husband is progressing and how he will go home mentally tired and physically exercised, which makes it much easier for him to settle in the afternoons and often sleep through the night. This provides enhanced mental and physical wellbeing levels for him and also other clients, which in turn gives the carers some respite too.