This Dementia Awareness Week, 14 – 20 May, the BSO will be holding dementia-friendly events across Dorset and beyond as part of the Orchestra’s pioneering Boost programme of work dedicated to improving the lives of those living with the condition through music. As one of BSO Participate’s five specially tailored strands of engagement work, Boost lies within the Arts and Health sector, focussing on health and wellbeing through music. Dementia Awareness Week is an initiative led by The Alzheimer’s Society to raise awareness and increase understanding of this life-changing condition, and estimates that 1 million people in the UK will be living with dementia by 2021, making it the biggest health and care challenge facing this country.
Boost will be hosting three Cake Concerts in accessible venues across Dorset and Wiltshire during Dementia Awareness Week. Designed specifically to cater to the needs of those living with dementia, along with their families, friends and carers, the Cake Concerts enable guests to enjoy a classical music concert they might not otherwise be comfortable attending. The first concert will take place on Monday 15 May at Lighthouse, Poole, followed by Gillingham Town Hall on Wednesday 17 May and a concert at Wiltshire Music Centre, Bradford-on-Avon on Thursday 18 May.
The BSO Teatime Trio will perform a selection of well-known and relaxing favourites from the Baroque period to the present day, whilst guests and their companions will be able to enjoy tea, coffee and cake in a friendly and relaxed informal café-style setting. As well as listening to the music, there will be plenty of opportunity for audiences to enjoy conversation and meet new people in a concert designed to be as accessible and relaxed as possible.
Dementia can make the world seem a very confusing and daunting place to those with the condition, often leading to feelings of isolation and a loss of interest in activities which were once enjoyable. However, if organisations can make a few simple adjustments to accommodate the needs of those living with dementia, this needn’t be the case. Boost’s specially created Cake Concerts are the result of a detailed consultation carried out last year in order to tackle this issue, as part of an Arts Council England pilot project, working closely with Dementia Friends and the Alzheimer’s Society. The Cake Concerts have been recognised nationally for their work towards being Dementia Friendly after being shortlisted in the Alzheimer’s Society’s ‘Dementia Friendly Awards’ 2016.
BSO Boost will also be continuing its pioneering Music for a Whileprogramme during Dementia Awareness Week. First launched as a pilot project led by Arts and Health South West, Music for a While saw BSO Associate musicians deliver music workshops and performances over an eight-month period to patients living with dementia in acute hospital settings in Poole, Portsmouth and Winchester. Music can remind people with dementia of past experiences and enable them to better communicate and connect. Evidence shows that it can improve mood, reduce anxiety and encourage sleeping, eating and drinking in those living with the condition.
Shortlisted for the Royal Society for Public Health’s ‘Health and Well-Being Award’ in 2016, the success of the pilot has resulted in Boost continuing to deliver Music for a While sessions at Poole Hospital and there will be two visits taking place on Wednesday 17 May and Thursday 18 May. BSO Associate Musician Neil Valentine will visit patients and engage musically with them, with group workshops or playing songs at individual’s bedsides, helping to lift their moods and encourage interaction in flexible sessions tailored specifically to the patients’ needs. Music is a powerful communicator and its ability to transcend barriers enables even those most severely affected by dementia to engage and enjoy participating in group singing or just enjoy being played to.
Neil Valentine spoke of his experience delivering the project: “I find working with patients, nurses, activity coordinators and visitors in a hospital setting is a real joy. Bringing music, life and a sense of normality to the sterile environment of the hospital wards has been met with warmth and encouragement.”
To find out more about Boost’s life-changing work, please visit BSOlive.com
BSO Cake Concerts
Monday 15 May 3pm – 4.30pm
Venue: The Gallery, Lighthouse, Kingland Road, Poole BH15 1UG
Ticket Prices: £5 per person, including refreshments
To Book Tickets: Please call Ben Jennings, BSO Participate Co-Ordinator on 01202 644717
Wednesday 17 May 2.15pm – 3.45pm
Venue: Gillingham Town Hall, School Road, Gillingham, Dorset SP8 4QR
Sold Out
Thursday 18 May 1pm – 2.30pm
Venue: Wiltshire Music Centre, Bradford-on-Avon, Wiltshire BA15 1DZ
Ticket Prices: £5 including refreshments
To Book Tickets: Please call Wiltshire Music Centre on 01225 860100
For more information, please contact Ben Jennings, BSO Participate Coordinator, on 01202 644717 or email [email protected]
