Five ways we marked National Playlist Day
A full day to celebrate the power of music for dementia? Count us in!
On 20th September 2023 we spearheaded the second annual National Playlist Day: a day to raise awareness of the power of personalised playlists for people living with dementia.
Held during World Alzheimer’s Month, and on the day before World Alzheimer’s Day (21st September), it was a fun day for an important cause. And an opportunity to ask that all important question: what’s on your playlist?
Here are five ways we marked National Playlist Day 2023:
We produced a concert to celebrate the power of music for dementia
We brought together people living with dementia, families, carers, supporters of Playlist for Life and music fans in Glasgow’s famous Old Fruitmarket venue for a special evening of music and memories.
Providing entertainment for the evening were: Alzheimer’s Scotland Every Voice Choir, The Bluebells, The Twilight Sad, Theo Bleak, Curlew and Man of Moon. Attended by over 300 guests, it was a special evening to celebrate 10 years of our charity and encourage everyone to get started on their own personalised playlist.
Thanks to our partners Glasgow Life, our host Paul English and event producer Sandra Gordon for making the event one to remember.
Take a look at some of the highlights in the slideshow below.
Wonderful evening celebrating the power of personalised playlists for people with dementia. Well done for all your great work. You are making such a difference to people’s lives! @PlaylistforLife @sallymag1 #NationalPlaylistDay pic.twitter.com/xUNILBGXIc
— Michelle Miller (@MichelleMillrx) September 21, 2023
We engaged our UK-wide playlisting community
Did you know that Playlist for Life is partnered with over 2,500 community Help Points throughout the UK? We’re a small charity with a huge mission – to ensure everyone living with dementia has their own personalised playlist – so partnership work is very important for us.
And boy did our partners help us celebrate National Playlist Day!
From hosting musical teas, helping service users to create playlists, sharing songs from their own playlists and spreading the news on social media, National Playlist Day was celebrated around the country and seen by an estimated 250,000 people on social media.
Lots of foot-tapping and humming along to favourite songs this week at the William Patrick Library to celebrate #NationalPlaylistDay! 🎶
— EDLC Culture (@EDLC_Culture) September 23, 2023
Find out more about our Library help points ➡️ https://t.co/pqyLKAmbCZ@PlaylistforLife pic.twitter.com/zDKcoLROhE
Today is #NationalPlaylistDay. Playlists of personally meaningful music can improve the lives of those living with dementia, their families and carers. We are supporting @Playlistforlife to spread the word and asking all of our followers ‘What’s on your playlist?’ pic.twitter.com/57QxFJuTuh
— Care England 💚 (@CareEngland) September 20, 2023
We co-created a new mural in Glasgow with people living with dementia
Playlist for Life was founded in Glasgow – a city famous for murals.
On National Playlist Day we unveiled a gable end wall mural in the city. We worked on this with people living with dementia, their families and the amazing team at SWG3 and artist Molly Hankinson.
The mural incorporates lyrics from the songs on people’s playlists and a QR code for passers-by to scan and access our free resources. You can visit the mural at SWG3 Eastvale Pl in Glasgow.
We designed a T-shirt to start a musical conversation
We’re all about the music that has soundtracked your life, so we know the importance of a band tee to any music fan. What better way to promote the music you love? We decided to create our own T-shirt for National Playlist Day, asking ‘What’s on your playlist?’
We sold the T-shirts at Glasgow’s famous Barra’s market and at our concert. It has been worn by famous faces such as writer Ian Rankin and Helen Marnie of Ladytron, helping us to share our message with even more people who could benefit from a personalised playlist.
Buy a T-shirt for yourself or the music lover in your life. All profits go directly to Playlist for Life.
We got the country talking
National Playlist Day started with a bang as we were featured on the UK’s leading breakfast radio show. To mark National Playlist Day, Christina Birkby at Leicester Musical Memory Box was the ‘Pick your own playlist’ guest on BBC Radio 2’s Breakfast show.
Meaningful music was also the subject of BBC Radio Scotland Show Get it On with Bryan Burnett. Listeners controlled the airways and shared music from their own personalised playlists, with multiple listeners sharing their own stories of witnessing music’s power for people living with dementia. You can listen to the full 2-hour show on BBC Sounds until 20th October.
Thank you to everyone who celebrated National Playlist Day with us this year.
While the day is a great way to raise awareness, meaningful music is a year-round celebration for us.
Check out our free resources today and get started on a playlist for yourself or a person in your life living with dementia. Help us continue to support anyone affected by dementia by donating to Playlist for Life.
