Music to their ears workshop launched for care home residents in the Midlands

A surveyor with a passion for music is helping to tackle the problem of social isolation and loneliness which is often experienced by those affected by dementia  in Care Homes.

John Reed, 69, has launched his “music to their ears” musical workshop series to transport care home residents to a world of music, storytelling and song.  The Social Enterprise is based at his home in Kidderminster, and operates throughout the Midlands area.

“To begin with we concentrated on artists like Vera Lynn and Gracie Fields”, recalls John, “and found that this was very popular, as was Billy Cotton, George Formby  and Russ Conway, to name but a few”.

“Recently” says John, “ we presented the story of Oliver, taking the music and the story from the film, and residents loved it”.  Residents joined in by singing along, tapping their feet, and enjoying the story, presented in an unusual way. Sometimes the carers join in to, making into a real “party” experience for everybody.

The “music to their ears” series is a suite of 6 or 12 workshops, delivered on a regular basis, focusing on a variety of artists, musicals, different genres, and sometimes even includes trips down “memory lane” so that people can relate the story to their own early years. This tends to help overcome or reduce memory loss problems so common in this age group.

The service is offered free initially, as a “taster” of what is possible, and then a series of topics is agreed with the care home having complete freedom to choose what is best for their residents. “Generally”  says John, “we find that topics dating from 1940 until 1970 are the favourites, but it could be almost anything, it is entirely their choice”

John may be contacted by E-Mail at tutisltd@aol.com