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!
Our awareness campaign attracted support across the UK thanks to the incredible efforts of our partners and volunteers.
Most notably, our ambassador Sir Alex Ferguson helped us share our message with millions of people across the UK and beyond. He appeared on BBC Breakfast to launch National Playlist Day, and his interviews were picked up by dozens of major news outlets including The Sun, The Daily Mail, The Times, The Telegraph, and many more.
The interview aired in two parts, with the second showing Sir Alex meeting Ken and Mil, a couple affected by dementia. This heart-warming conversation — along with footage of Sir Alex dancing with Mil — went viral, powerfully demonstrating how, when words fail, music can still speak to people living with advanced dementia.
@playlistforlife As part of our #NationalPlaylistDay celebrations, our ambassador Sir Alex Ferguson met with a family affected by dementia in Cheshire to hear about how playlists are improving their lives by helping Mil who lives with vascular dementia, and her partner Ken who lives with her to connect over musical memories. As a big Manchester United fan, Mil recognised Sir Alex and loved dancing with him to one of the tracks on her personal playlist that Playlist for Life supporter and dementia in music activities organiser Marion helped her and Ken to build. We documented this lovely moment that was recorded during an interview with BBC Breakfast to help us raise awareness to millions more people in the U.K. and amplify our message that personalised music can improve dementia symptoms and boost happiness, joy, and connection. As Sir Alex told us after the interview: “When the music came on it just sparked her enthusiasm to join in and start singing, and I thought it was a wonderful thing to see. With that type of dementia, you don’t expect that kind of response, but she was up and dancing with such a positive reaction to the music, so that was really a special moment. She hasn’t lost her vigour for life and she’s about to celebrate her 90th birthday.” And more about why he has chosen to support Playlist for Life's mission to ensure that everyone in the UK who could benefit from a personal playlist to help with dementia now or later can access one, and everyone who cares for them is able to use it: "I think that using personal playlists in dementia care is something that without question will grow in popularity, especially because it means families can get involved and support people with music, even from a distance. The conversation about dementia is gathering pace but people need to realise that dementia is a big modern-day issue that needs more support, and that support is a necessity for a lot of families to help people right now.” This year I’ve become an ambassador for the charity and added some more songs to my playlist that have happy memories or special meanings for me. I’ll keep using Playlist for Life’s resources to find and add more songs for my playlist because I know how important music is to me, and I want to play as big a role as possible in helping other people know how the music they remember fondly could help them or someone close to them.”
♬ original sound - Playlist For Life
We visited our Carluke Help Point — the first to join our network — to hear from volunteers and community members about how personalised music is improving the lives of people affected by dementia. We also discussed why these local hubs are so vital for boosting social connection, joy, and wellbeing.
We visited Westminster to discuss embedding playlists into dementia care with MPs, and travelled to Holyrood to host an event where our lived experience ambassadors engaged with MSPs about the need for playlists in dementia care.
A team of walkers raised more than £800 for Playlist for Life by taking part in the Edinburgh Kiltwalk – including five walkers from our corporate charity partner Turcan Connell, alongside long-standing supporters and volunteers Elizabeth and Tracey.
We were honoured to receive the Community Impact Award at the Inspiring City Awards, held in collaboration between The Herald and Glasgow Chamber of Commerce. The awards celebrate organisations and individuals making a positive difference across Glasgow.
Hallmark Luxury Care Homes pledged to make personal playlists available across all 22 of its homes for every resident living with dementia, by offering Playlist for Life training to all team members. So far, staff have seen significant benefits for both residents and colleagues through the use of personal playlists.
We launched community playlist campaigns in five Scottish areas — Glasgow, Inverclyde, Falkirk, East Dunbartonshire, and East Renfrewshire — supported by ScottishPower. These projects raise awareness of the power of music to connect communities and spark meaningful interactions.
We joined an awareness-raising dance session with our Help Point Tawas, who use our multilingual resources to help English speakers and people from ethnic minority communities in Glasgow connect through meaningful music.
We attended the annual Alzheimer Scotland Conference, where we shared free resources to help people use personally meaningful music to manage dementia symptoms and improve wellbeing.
Our Head of Communities, Rebecca Kennedy, spoke in a focus session about embedding playlists in dementia care and how music can support conversations around brain health.
We also attended the Scottish Dementia Arts Festival in Stirling, which offered people affected by dementia an inspiring range of performances, exhibitions, and workshops.
A huge thank you to the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, Leicester Cathedral, and Gairloch Museum for supporting awareness-raising activities and helping us amplify our message.
Our partner Turcan Connell celebrated “band T-shirt day” in conjunction with National Playlist Day, with staff sharing the memories linked to the music behind their chosen shirts.
Our work was also featured in the press alongside a BBC film highlighting how personal playlists can support people in end-of-life care. The piece followed a couple in Essex who 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 help us continue to share the power of personal music?
Visit our homepage to learn how to create your own playlist, access our free resources, or support our work.
