I started on Monday with speaking at a community connection group for the Link Workers at Alzheimer Scotland. It was a great group and what I did was well received. It was good to hear that people were using music already and to know that they were singing in different music groups was heartening.
We arrived at Morningside Music Memories group to some news that was totally unexpected. One of the volunteers Dave had died at the weekend, he was a great guy and gave a lot to the group, he will be missed, and our thoughts are with his family and friends. The session was a little muted as you can imagine.
Zoom Choir was just what I needed to lift my spirits. It is quite amazing that a group that was created during the pandemic has still got such a place at the forefront of what the Forget Me Notes project offers. I think it says a lot about what we have shared together and the reason for its creation has added to the community that has been built.
Alan and I were at Lauder Lodge on Tuesday which was particularly good with the room bursting with people. We have a family member who is present each time we attend, and it is self-evident how much this helps her. Her husband was a saxophone player, so music has been something that they have shared together and means so much.
I am not sure where we get the wonderful volunteers and facilitators that we have. On Thursday morning we delivered a training session for potential new staff members. The level of awareness and knowledge was good, and it gives me the feeling that yet again, we have quality staff that will soon be joining us.
Thursday also saw us in Saughton Park Bandstand. The weather was the same as usual, blowing a gale! This meant that Alan and Paul needed all the clothes pegs they could muster to keep their music on the stands. We had more than fifty people turn up to share the afternoon together. We had people from Clovenstone and Davidson House Care Homes, also a group from Alzheimer Scotland came to join us. It was also good that a couple who attended the community connections group on Monday came to join us too.
Friday we were back at the Festival Theatre for Together in Song. We hadn’t had a session in April due to it falling on Easter weekend, so it was good to be with everyone again. What is so clear is that the community being created to support those with a lived experience of dementia is one that people want to be a part of.
We have more great news for you. We were able to record our song called the Forget me Notes song in a recording studio. The song is now on our website at https://www.forgetmenotes.org.uk/film-audio . This has been released for Dementia Awareness Week in Scotland at the end of the month. We would like as many people to listen to the song as possible. So go and have a listen to it and share with friends and neighbours and let’s raise the issues faced by those living with dementia.
Have a good week.