Visit to Liverpool Museum

I love museums, and I love Liverpool, so the opportunity to combine both for work seemed almost too good to be true. I went there to have some training on the House of Memories app which was developed by the education team there, and which is going to be the basis of reminiscence sessions I am planning over the coming weeks in community settings around the county.  

The training was promoted as being for ‘Family and Friends’ of people with dementia and there were about 15 of us there, including one or two who had recently been diagnosed with the illness. The session was funny, moving and most of all very practical – showing people how they could use objects and images from the museum (or in our case, from the archives) to provoke memories, stories and feelings of wellbeing in people with memory problems. The atmosphere at the end of the training was one I would be thrilled if I could replicate when I am ‘in the hot-seat’ , delivering sessions myself: people left feeling inspired, cheered and looking forward to seeing what else they could do with the app.

Kate O'Keefe