It was seven years ago in March when we took the decision to register The Forget Me Notes Project as a charity. We had one choir and some Music Memories sessions. We took the plunge believing that the journey ahead would offer us opportunities to support people through music. The journey that we have gone on has been one that we could never have predicted. I can say without fear of contradiction that we have experienced surprises along the way! Many people have recalled memories and shared stories with us that have been amazing. We have seen and heard communications that we would never have thought possible. Most of all we have a built a community that is strong, supporting each other through many challenging and difficult times.
Seven years later and we have evolved into an organisation that has five choirs, a volunteer project that completed 250 individual visits in the last year, a Music Memories project that has fully recovered after Covid and is now delivering more sessions. We also have a Music Therapy project working with those in the later stages of their illness.
It is true to say that as an organisation all that we do needs to be underpinned by a constitution and policies that are fit for purpose and which we can depend upon and work with.
Why is this the topic of this week’s post?
We held our AGM on Thursday with almost thirty people present, some voting and some community members. All those present had the interest of The Forget Me Notes Project at heart. I want to say a huge thank you to those trustees and staff who have with Paul’s help developed a constitution that will stand as our foundation for future evolution.
We will also spend time this year with an external group supporting us to look at our policies to ensure they are robust. This will mean that our practice will provide purpose and strength for both those who work with us and those who we support.
The Forget Me Notes Project is another year older and we are growing up from a new emerging service into a vital organisation for those with a lived experience of dementia and additional needs.
This project belongs to all those who have used it over the last seven years, those who use it now and those who will use it into the future. It is important that we reflect those who use our services and that at the heart of all that we do is the empowering of people.
This does feel like an important milestone in our journey. Your support is a vital part of who we are and who we will become.
Thank you for the part that you have played in our journey.