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STAND peer support charity release album
STAND, a peer-led dementia charity in Fife, has taken the concept of personal music to another level.
STAND, which has supported the development of 9 Dementia Friendly Meeting Centre Spaces across the Kingdom, have released their second album ‘Stand Songs Volume 2’. The songs have been written in partnership with musicians Gus Harrower and Robyn Smith with members of STAND providing the lyrics.
As part of our Help Point network, STAND’s Kinghorn group were encouraged to make a ‘group playlist, which was created during a session using our conversation starter resource. Each member was invited to contribute a song which is personally meaningful to them to add to the playlist, and those songs were then used as inspiration for a new tune called ‘Memories’. The tune includes references to people’s meaningful tunes like “I love you because you’re beautiful” (Rogers and Hammerstein), “Every time I say goodbye” (Ella Fitzgerald), The Wonder of You (Elvis) and N17 (the Saw Doctors). The plan is to release this song as a single.
The 2nd album is packed with personally meaningful stories. Allen’s song ‘Bike in a box’ tells the story of his passion for motorbikes and how he once ordered a self-assembly bike from a catalogue. Andy’s song ‘Boomerang’ tells the emotional story of finding his real dad in his 50s and how they become friends for the last 10 years of his dad’s life. Christina’s ‘Long Lost Lady’ tells the true story of a long-lost-love who reappeared decades later via a notice in the local paper.
The Kinghorn group understand the power of music for wellbeing, both for those living with dementia, and those who love and care for them. One family who attend at Kinghorn have also been supported by their local Alzheimer Scotland Technology Advisor to make a personal playlist for the husband/father who lives with dementia. The playlist is now used to help with motivation to encourage him to engage with activities.
“Alan can be hard to engage, but put on a piece of music that he recognizes and he gets up out of his chair and is ready to go. The Christmas alphabet song by Dickie Valentine is one he likes a lot, any time of year.”
Lily, Alan’s wife.
Marie and Allen use music every day.
Marie said:
We like the radio for chat and music. In the car it’s Radio Gold and 60s music. “When Allen is anxious, we play The Beatles through headphones and it’s very calming. I don’t know what we would do without music because a lot has changed in our lives since Allen was diagnosed, but one thing that is a constant is music.”
STAND volunteer, Ruth McCabe said:
“At the Meeting Centres we offer a sense of community, a place you can meet people you can talk to who understand what you are going through and a whole range of activities. We support about 100 people across the 9 Spaces but we know there are 6,000 people in Fife living with a diagnosis of dementia. We encourage them not to face dementia alone. Look for a local group, give it a try.”
STAND aims to promote the well-being of people living with dementia in Fife. STAND’s work is led by people living with a diagnosis of dementia and their friends and families.
Find out more about their work and Fife Meeting Centres on their website.
