Wirral Museums helping to make memories
A collection of iconic Wirral images – along with other items from the collection of Wirral Museums - now forms part of a programme designed to help people living with dementia.
House of Memories is a well-established and successful programme created by National Museums Liverpool as a resource for people living with dementia and those who support them. It includes an App – My House of Memories - providing visual and audio prompts to inspire conversation.
Thanks to an Arts Council England grant of £13,500, Wirral Museums has developed localised content for the system so it can be used to support Wirral’s commitment to becoming a more dementia-friendly organisation.
The Wirral content was launched recently as a free dementia awareness workshop at the Williamson Art Gallery, attended by a range of local people affected by dementia issues.
Jo Burns, Programme Manager for Wirral Museums, said: “House of Memories helps people to connect through memory sharing. Part of the workshop was an introduction to the programme and how it uses powerful and personal video stories to support people living with dementia.”
Peter Loosemore, Policy and Strategy Officer for Wirral Council added:
"This is just one example of the excellent work going on within the council as we fulfil our commitment to the 'Liverpool City Region Dementia-Friendly City Region Pledge' which Wirral Council are pleased to be a signatory. It is an important reminder of the importance of culture in its widest sense, to all our sense of well-being."
Dawn Carroll from House of Memories said: “We are delighted that Wirral Museums are opening up their wonderful collections for people to enjoy digitally through our My House of Memories app. This year marks the 10th anniversary of House of Memories, and as part of National Museums Liverpool, we understand the power of objects to connect people to their identities, personal histories and one another.
“Our app was co-created by people living with dementia and their carers, as a way of building new connections and conversations. It is a really rewarding and stimulating way of spending an hour with a loved one – which is even more potent when exploring local memories with real relevance to people’s lives. We hope that elders, those living with dementia and their carers across Wirral will really benefit as a result.”
More information about House of Memories can be found on the NML website. The My House of Memories app is available for both Apple and Android devices via their respective App stores.
