Hear from four beneficiaries of the Charter
On the 18th of May 2021, The Mayor of London launched the Dementia Friendly Venues Charter, an initiative to make London’s arts and cultural venues more accessible for those affected by Dementia.
Over the last year the team have supported the 120 venues who have pledged to become accredited Dementia-friendly through webinars, conferences, training and resources and welcomes 25 venues to the Charter.
We spoke to three ambassadors to the programme about their experience of working with people with Dementia. Sarah Durner, Sport and Physical Activity Senior Officer for Hillingdon Council, Celine Paul from Hackney Empire, Matthew Mint from Waltham Forest Council and Ronald Amanze, a musician who lives with Dementia.
Sarah Durner, Hillingdon Council
Sarah has supported many of Hillingdon’s libraries and theatres to become Dementia-Friendly:
We have accredited 10 of our cultural venues under the Mayor’s Dementia Friendly Venues Charter. This is important, as residents living with dementia say they are happier attending events and activities if they know the space is Dementia Friendly and that activities have been developed to reflect their interests and needs. We are continuously developing new programmes meeting with residents living with dementia to discuss what activities they would like to do.
Currently we have six dementia friendly film screenings a year, a dementia inclusive community choir, a monthly daytime disco with around 30 residents attending and for the Jubilee an event with 80 residents living with dementia attending. This summer we plan to host an intergenerational outdoor picnic and puppet show and encourage our residents living with dementia to bring their grandchildren. There are also plans for a canal boat trip to discover Hillingdon’s canals.
Celine Paul, Hackney Empire
Celine led the process of accreditation for Hackey Empire:
At Hackney Empire we believe that everyone should be able to experience the magic of theatre in their lives. We want to make sure that everyone feels welcome throughout their visit here and want to connect with them to understand their needs. We have incorporated Dementia Friendly performances into our performance schedule and added visual stories on our website. We have also started to create accessible versions of all our brochures including audio guides, large print brochures and digital brochures.
We have recently introduced a new Access Membership scheme which helps make booking easier for them as they are able to login to their account and book their tickets online for them and their carer. Absolutely, we have a few people living with dementia in our venue during the time of our yearly panto because of our Relaxed shows. Our Duty Manger makes sure to take extra care when dealing with them during the venue tour, showing them to their seats and helping them during the interval as needed.
Ronald Amanze
Ronald spoke at the Dementia Friendly Venues Network conference at the Museum of London and audited Museum of London Docklands as a Dementia-Friendly Venue:
Museum of London is the only venue I have experienced as being Dementia Friendly. This was a pleasant experience because it deals with everybody equally. All of my experiences of museums and libraries that are not Dementia Friendly have been very uncomfortable and sad.
I am very sensitive and I always wonder how I am perceived and considered due to past experiences at cultural venues. With venues that are not dementia friendly, I am very conscious of the environment and aware of my behaviour, making me feel as though I should be reserved in myself which I shouldn’t be. My natural behaviour should be allowed. All venues and all aspects of life should be inclusive and become dementia friendly. Museums and libraries are a place of sanctuary, where you can get away from the hustle and bustle of life, cultural venues are where people like explore, and these places make people feel comfortable.
Matthew Mint
Matthew Mint co-ordinated Waltham Forest’s cultural venues William Morris Gallery and Vestry House Museum becoming Dementia-Friendly:
Working towards becoming a dementia-friendly borough is a key goal of the Waltham Forest Dementia Strategy, and it was critically important that these key cultural assets were at the forefront of this ambition. We were therefore delighted to achieve Dementia Friendly Venue status for both venues, which was followed three weeks later by Waltham Forest being accredited as ‘Working towards a Dementia Friendly borough’ by the Alzheimer’s Society.
Dementia Action Week 2022 saw the first of our dementia-friendly Tea and Chat events, with a curator-led tour of the new Althea McNish exhibition at the William Morris Gallery. The tour involved people living with dementia and a carer, along with Health and Social Care students from Leyton Sixth Form College, and staff from the Council’s dementia service and the Alzheimer’s Society. There were some lovely conversations between one of the gentlemen who attended and the students, telling them how Waltham Forest has changed over the years. The curator and supporting staff had all attended Alzheimer’s Society Dementia Friends sessions. We will be running these dementia-friendly Tea and Chat sessions for all new major exhibitions, with changes made to sounds and lighting to better support people living with dementia and their carers.
As part of the accreditation process for becoming a dementia-friendly venue, we undertook a survey of our buildings, which has given us plenty of ideas for future improvements to our venues for people living with dementia. We are also planning for the Council’s dementia groups to visit Vestry House Museum for some reminiscence sessions. As you can see, we have plenty of ideas as to how we can continue working to make our cultural venues even more welcoming to residents and visitors living with dementia and their carers.
Matthew works at the Waltham Forest Dementia Hub, the William Morris Gallery and Vestry House Museum.
