It all started when…

Some years ago, in 2015, The Forget Me Notes began as a choir in response to the way in which we saw people with a lived experience of dementia respond to music. This bullet point statement was where we began, however an awful lot has happened since:

• While this would be a choir that included people living with dementia it would not be exclusive to them.

• We wanted people throughout the community to understand the abilities of those living with dementia and change their misconceptions.

• It was important that we worked with what people could do and not what they couldn’t. We wanted to enhance their well-being and create an environment of achievement for all.

None of the above has changed but the evolution of The Forget Me Notes Project has been a very interesting journey. In 2018 we became a charity in our own right, just before the Covid-19 pandemic. We needed to think on our feet to ensure that we could provide support to people whose lives would change dramatically. We started our Zoom Choir and developed short films of music sessions for care homes to use. We knew that the world would be a different place post Covid and we would need to prepare for whatever came along.

The Forget Me Notes Project has evolved to the extent that we provide three Choirs, twenty-five Music Memories sessions a month and a Volunteer Project with a Co-ordinator and twenty-three volunteers. Each of these projects aim to use music to build community, challenge isolation and enhance self-expression.

You will find on our website our values tree that helps us to work in a way that has been determined by those who use our service. It has now become our evaluation tree as we continue to seek the views of those who participate in music with us.

The evolution of The Forget Me Notes project is an exciting journey to where none of us know. What we do know is that using music to enhance our lives is a sure-fire winner. So we will continue with our journey, based on the values and the bullet points above and build a more inclusive world for those of us who are different.

Alan Midwinter
Chief Executive