September is World Alzheimer’s Month — a major campaigning period for Playlist for Life.
We spearhead National Playlist Day, a UK-wide awareness campaign that encourages people of all ages to create playlists to support wellbeing and highlights the benefits of music for people affected by dementia.
To mark the occasion, we organised a range of celebrations on Friday 19 September and took part in many more throughout the month.
Here are some of the highlights!
We celebrated National Playlist Day for the fourth year
Our awareness-raising campaign attracted millions of people across the U.K thanks to support from partners and volunteers.
Most notably, we relayed our message to millions nationwide through our ambassador Sir Alex Ferguson, who kicked off National Playlist Day by appearing on BBC Breakfast where he met with couple Ken and Mil who are affected by dementia.
This heartwarming interview and our footage of him dancing with Mil went viral, raising awareness about how when words fail, music can still speak to people with advanced dementia.
We celebrated the importance of our Help Point network
We visited our Help Point partner St Andrew’s Dementia Hub in Carluke — which was the first to join our network in 2016 — to hear from volunteers and community members about how using personalised music can improve the lives of people affected by dementia and why these local hubs are so important for boosting social connections joy and wellbeing.
We took playlists to parliament
We went to Westminster to discuss embedding playlists into dementia care with MPs. We also went to Holyrood — the Scottish Government building in Edinburgh — to hold an event where lived experience ambassadors engaged with MSPs about the need for playlists dementia care.
We had a bumper fundraising month
A team of walkers raised more than £800 for us by taking part in the Edinburgh Kiltwalk – including five walkers from our corporate charity partner Turcan Connell alongside longstanding supporters and volunteers Elizabeth and Tracey.
We expanded our partnership with a national care home provider
Hallmark Luxury Care Homes pledged to make personal playlists available across all of its 22 homes and to each resident living with dementia by offering training to all team members. So far the team has seen significant benefits in the use of personal playlists for both staff and residents affected by dementia.
We marked World Alzheimer’s Day
We marked World Alzheimer’s Day by joining an awareness-raising dance session with our Help Point Tawas, who use our multi-lingual resources to help English speakers and more people from ethnic minority groups in Glasgow connect through meaningful music.
We won an award for our community work
We won the Community Impact Award at the Inspiring City Awards. The awards were held in collaboration between The Herald and Glasgow Chamber of Commerce to recognise organisations and individuals who made a positive impact in Glasgow. Learn more about the awards and ceremony here.
We connected communities through the power of playlists
We launched community playlist campaigns in five areas of Scotland – Glasgow, Inverclyde, Falkirk, East Dumbartonshire and East Renfrewshire. Backed by Scottish Power Foundation and local Community Mental Health and Wellbeing Funding in these areas this project was aimed at raising awareness of the power of music in connecting communities.
We amplified our message at large conferences
We attended the annual Alzheimer Scotland conference where we shared free resources to help people use personally meaningful music to manage symptoms of dementia and improve wellbeing.
Our Head of Communities Rebecca Kennedy spoke in a focus session about how playlists should be embedded in dementia care and how music can support conversations around improving brain health.
We also attended the Scottish Dementia Arts Festival in Stirling which gave people affected by dementia an opportunity to engage with an inspiring range of performances, exhibitions and workshops.
We received massive support from corporates to communities
A huge thank you to efforts from Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Scottish Fire and Rescue, Leicester Cathedral and Gairloch Museum for participating in awareness-raising activities to help us amplify our message.
Turcan Connell celebrated band-t-shirt day in conjunction with National Playlist Day, with staff also sharing the memories linked to the bands merch they donned.
Personal playlists were recognised as part of end-of-life care
It was great to see our work also featured in the press around a BBC film about how personal playlists can help in end-of-life care that documented the story of a couple in Essex that had accessed Playlist for Life resources at a Southend hospice. Watch the piece here.
Thank you to everyone — volunteers, partners, supporters, and communities — who helped us spread the word and make a difference during World Alzheimer’s Month.
Could you continue to help us improve the lives of more people living with dementia? Visit our homepage to learn how to create your own playlist, access our free resources, or support our work.
