Singing session to support residents with dementia

church

A singing session is being held next month for Alderley Edge residents living with memory loss and mental health issues associated with dementia.

The congregation at St Philip & St James Church has been thinking for a while how it can help meet the needs of older people living in Alderley Edge, especially those living with dementia, as a number of members of the congregation have been directly affected either as carers for people with dementia or living with dementia themselves.

As a result the church has organised its first meeting of Voices Together which they hope will become a regular event. The session will be held the West End of St Philip and St James Church from 2pm to 3.30pm on Wednesday May 30th.

Mel Levy, a professional music leader who already works at Brook View Care Home, is going to tailor the sessions to meet the needs local people and use singing as a way of relaxing, meeting up with others, and their carers.

The sessions will start with a cup of tea and chat, followed by an hour of singing – songs from the shows as well as memorable 50's and 60's music.

Rev'd Robin Pye said "My mother-in-law lived with dementia for a few years before she died. She had always loved music and singing and towards the end we came to rely more and more on singing and music to connect to her and to lift her mood. Just an hour of singing would have an astonishingly positive effect on her and it would lift all our spirits and give us the stamina we needed to carry on loving her and caring for her."

Voices Together will form part of a programme to increase community use of the West End of the church which will shortly include an art group. Currently there is a midweek service after which worshipers, artists and others who stroll in share a communal meal and the local history group often meets in the church on Wednesday afternoons at 2pm.

St Philip & St James Church has submitted an application to the Alderley Edge Institute Trust for funding to kick-start the Voices Together project and pay for an initial 10 sessions, with the hope that the project will be self-funding in the long run.

For further information on any of the community events taking place in the church, including Voices Together, please contact the vicar by email or telephone on 07794 122602.

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St Philip and St James Church
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Comments

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Pete Taylor
Monday 23rd April 2018 at 3:09 pm
An excellent initiative; my late mother suffered from dementia towards the end of her life; while she could hardly remember anything remotely recent, she could sing the songs from her youth word perfect.