Project Profile – Remember Me
Volunteer Isabelle tells us all about volunteering at Remember Me
I got the chance to go out with Remember Me on their Friday project. Remember Me runs every Thursday and Friday, and works with elderly people suffering with Dementia. On Thursday’s they spend time doing fun activities including bingo, reading, chair yoga, flower arranging and other themed things. On Friday’s they help with Musical Memories Choir, which is a choir for people with dementia along with their families and carers. It’s a very popular project with about 80 members in the choir, where people can meet up sing some songs and then have some soup, tea, cake and chat.
On the day, I got a taxi (paid for and organised by Discovery), at about 10am, to the church hall where the project is held. The first thing to do was to set up the chairs and tables ready, and then just help around where we were needed whilst the choir started to arrive. It was a busy day when I went, as there was also a children’s choir who were there to sing as well, and a group called XL who organised for the children and elderly people to play with Lego together. Ordinarily there is not so much going on, but it was lovely to see, and it was so well organised by Helen who runs the choir, that it did not seem chaotic at all. I had a chance to chat with Helen whilst people were arriving, and she was so lovely and stressed the importance of the encouraging interaction and providing and safe and fun space for people who otherwise might be lonely.
At around 11 when most people had arrived, the choir began. The two women in charge were so friendly and bubbly, they started by chatting and making the people comfortable, before being with singing some classics that everyone could join in with, such as Daisy Bell and I Want to Hold Your Hand. The atmosphere was so amazing, everyone seemed so happy to be there, including the elderly people, their families and the volunteers. We were singing along and joining in, whilst also helping to collect used mugs and wash up. I was in the middle of washing some cups when the volunteers stopped what they were doing and called us all out to watch the children sing. It was half of the choir from a local welsh speaking school, who were all excited to be there and sing for us, and the elderly people and volunteers were so thrilled to have them, everyone stopped what they were doing to listen. They sang a mixture of songs, mostly in Welsh and a few in French, and it was so lovely to hear. Everyone loved listening, with the elderly people joining in and applauding loudly at the end.
After the children sang, the Remember Me choir sang a few more songs together, and then we began rearranging the room for soup and cake. Whilst we were moving the tables and helping in the kitchen everyone was chatting and catching up and it was a very happy, positive atmosphere in the room. After the tables were set and everyone was getting seated, we began taking round soup and hot drinks for everyone and putting cakes on the tables. It was lovely to see so many of the elderly people talking and smiling and having such a fun time, they all loved seeing the children sing and getting to sing themselves. After the food was finished, XL Wales started taking round some Lego to the tables, and the children sat with the elderly people to play some Lego.
Seeing the two groups interacting, with everyone looking so happy and smiley was lovely to see. We began clearing away as people left, and as they walked past us everyone said a big thank you and what a lovely time they’d had and how much they couldn’t wait to come back next week. I recommend the project to anyone interested in working with elderly people especially, however it was an incredibly rewarding experience either way.
