One of our new volunteers has given talks for Marie Curie for quite a few years now. He offered to do the same for Forget Me Notes and would take his talk to the Guilds first and then see what might evolve. For this to happen, I had to do the slides and make them Forget Me Note friendly which was a lot of work. However, as I did this task it was interesting to reflect on all that we offer, including the number of people who each month are supported by The Forget Me Notes Project. It might surprise you to know that more than 450 people a month use and enjoy the variety of services we offer.
One of those services is a new Music Therapy service and this past week Paul and I were delivering an orientation session to Music Therapists who we will then match with those people who will benefit most from this service. It is exciting to be able to build this project. We have always seen Forget Me Notes as a bridge from using music for entertainment to using music therapeutically.
Also this week we held a meeting with one of our Music Facilitators to see how we might make further steps in developing the service. I was delighted when Kenny rang me to say that he had received a call from a special needs school to say they would like to work with Forget Me Notes. The new dementia strategy for Scotland brings those with Down’s Syndrome who are more prone to dementia into the mainstream of dementia support. I have a particular desire to work with those with Down’s as my granddaughter is someone who lives with Down’s.
I also had a meeting with Rachel. Rachel works for a group whose role is to highlight people’s stories and she would like to help tell the stories of those people who use our services.
There is a new musical touring Scotland in the autumn called “Dementia the Musical” and we have been asked to provide some voices for the production, it will be fun to be involved. Raising the voices of those with a lived experience of dementia is vital if we are to build a world that is more inclusive of those who are different. The truth is of course that we are all different and unique. It is also true to say, as they say in Scotland, “We are all Jock Tamson’s bairns” so supporting each other is the responsibility of us all. I hope that as we evolve, we will grow to understand in all its fullness of what it means to be human. It could be such a different world.
Have a great week and look after each other!