Looking after memories: the museum supporting people living with dementia

Saturday marked International Museum Day and it is the beginning of Dementia Action Week – the perfect time to celebrate the amazing work House of Memories does to help those living with dementia. Last year, Rontec customers in the North West of England and North Wales topped up their milk and petrol purchases in support of the programme, and today we’re sharing the impact of those donations.

House of Memories is a museum-led dementia awareness programme run by National Museums Liverpool – offering training, access to resources, and museum-based activities to enable carers to provide person-centred care for people living with dementia. 

There are more than 850,000 people in the UK living with dementia, and this figure is expected to rise to more than 1 million by 2025. Every person with dementia will experience it in a different way and may present a range of symptoms. Depending on the type of dementia a person has, the symptoms may include memory loss.

Museums are experts at looking after memories and understand the power of objects to engage people and connect them to their histories, life stories and each other. One resource offered through the programme is the ‘My House of Memories’ app, created for and by people living with dementia and their carers. The app enables users to explore hundreds of objects from the past from the comfort of the home or within a care environment, as well as giving them the opportunity to add their own personal images and memories.

Making all the difference
The My House of Memories app uses images and other digital content to trigger memories, opening an avenue for conversation with carers and loved ones.

Eileen and Dave, a couple who were involved in the design of the app found the project to be of huge value to Dave who had been diagnosed with dementia. Eileen said

I would like to thank House of Memories for all for the help you gave us and enjoyment Dave got from being included and part of the whole process. He enjoyed the My House of Memories app and was able to explain to his friends what he liked about it and explain with me what it was about. Once again thank you for the opportunity you gave us.

Over £25,000 was raised through Pennies in Rontec’s North West and North Wales roadside retail stores. The money has helped House of Memories support couples like Eileen and Dave Gilbert and has allowed them to live as well as possible with dementia. Your donations have also helped fund more trained professionals, and provided training for family and friends caring for loved ones living with dementia in understanding person-centred dementia care. 

Each donation, just 25p, has helped the charity reach even more people living with dementia and those who care for them, enabling them to share special moments together, through the power of museum objects and memories.

This Dementia Action Week, we thank you for your support – your small change has made all of the difference to people living with dementia.  To find out more about what House of Memories are doing this Dementia Action Week click here or watch the video below to find out more information about their work.