The School is pleased to have held its first Memory Lane Café Benenden session, with all involved having a wonderful time.
The Café sessions, set up in collaboration with Tenterden Social Hub, seek to give people with dementia opportunities to reflect on bygone days through different styles of music, singing along and having fun with props.
On the Café’s Benenden debut, 35 participants and accompanying carers from the Tenterden Social Hub visited the School for an enjoyable time spent singing along to Tom Carradine’s music hall classics. They also had fun trying on a wide range of hats that were kindly supplied by the Drama department.
Pupils from Benenden who have volunteered for the programme are looking forward to meeting the participants at the next session. The School’s volunteers were fortunate to receive dementia awareness training from Liz Taylor of Dementia Connect, Alzheimer’s Society previously.
During the Summer Term, volunteering pupils will be producing a Tea Dance, inviting many groups of elderly people from the community to come together to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.Many studies have pointed to the positive impact music can have on those living with dementia, while opportunities to interact with different people help to reduce feelings of isolation or loneliness.