At Westacre Nursing Home we are helping to bring our community together by hosting the Bluebell Dementia Café on the second Wednesday of every month between 2.30pm and 4.30pm.
If you are living with dementia or caring for a loved one, we’d like to invite you along to our informal coffee afternoons. Join us for coffee, support, laughter and chat.
To reserve your place, please contact us by calling 01962 673554 or emailing lynne.seymour@westacrenursinghome.co.uk
On the same afternoon as the Bluebell Dementia Café, the Memory Choir (3-4 pm) gives those coping with dementia a chance to reconnect with their loved ones through singing.
Studies have shown that singing can stimulate brain activity, and boost wellbeing and mood, and in particular, it is thought to be a way to enhance the memory of people with dementia.
Westacre recently welcomed Kim Garner to the home, a singer and a registered Social Worker specialising in Mental Health and the founder of The Memory Choir, a choir for people living with Dementia, their carers, friends and family and supporters.
Diana Hearn, Manager of Westacre, said:
“Music and singing bring great health and social benefits to our residents, not to mention great enjoyment, so we often incorporate them into our activities here at Westacre.
“We are also always looking for new ways to help our residents connect with their past, with their loved ones, and with each other – and singing old songs together as we did with Kim was a really emotive and uplifting experience for all of us. It’s great that it is now part of our Bluebell Dementia Café.”
Kim Garner, who has brought together five ‘memory choirs’ across Hampshire with the aim of performing in public with those that are able to do so, said:
Westacre Nursing Home Bluebell Dementia Cafe“It was fantastic to share my passion with the residents of Westacre and their carers and families. It is always so moving to see how this experience can help people reconnect with their loved ones like nothing else can.
“I remember one occasion when we had a gentleman with dementia singing together with his wife in the choir. We were singing ‘Raindrops keep falling on my head’ and he turned to her and said ‘I took you to see this movie on our first date.’ It was a magical moment.”