Our week began on Monday with St Bride’s, St Cuthbert’s and Morningside. We are now really into Christmas activities and the singing of Christmas songs! Exploring Christmas memories and traditions is interesting, with different people with different memories. Christmas impacts people in various ways both positive and negative. Each memory needs to be respected and handled with care. We must never take for granted the trust people place in us as they share their stories.
Tuesday brought Eagle Lodge, Seagrove, Quarries, and The Hive. The Hive is a part of the support that is given to those people who find themselves in the Royal Edinburgh Hospital. It is run by SAMH and offers support to people from a social model of support. We had never sung there before and didn’t know what to expect. It was certainly different but clear that those who were a part of the session took something from it. We also shared in our volunteer Christmas gathering and I was glad that I was able to be a part of it. We have wonderful volunteers who are doing so much beautiful support to those they work with. One volunteer enables a person to play piano duets, and another holds an accordion while the person she supports is enabled to play. These different ways of using music are amazing and ones that we at the Forget Me Notes project are very proud of.
We had wonderful news about funding for our Volunteer Project as we secured £15,000 from RS Macdonald for two years’ funding of the project. I expect you can imagine that news was met with great celebration, along with the realisation that people were putting their trust in us to deliver a positive project and we are committed to doing just that. If you are a member of the Co-op, then you can support Forget Me Notes. We have been nominated for a community award which means that if you nominate Forget Me Notes then any time you buy a Co-op product, we will receive a penny for every pound you spend. The award period lasts for a whole year so we can secure a substantial amount of money if you are able to support us.
Thursday and Friday saw us at Open Door, Saughton Park, Strachan House and Ocean Terminal. Ocean Terminal is a shopping centre here in Edinburgh, and around the centre there are several hubs that are in place to encourage reminiscence. Singing in the centre was about promoting The Forget Me Notes Project and the Living Memory Association, which was a privilege. Working together to provide experiences for those living with dementia is part of what we are about, both here to enable others, so working in partnership is amazing and we hope that we will have more chances to continue working together.
Have a great week!
Alan