Scouts lend a helping hand for Sheffield dementia patients

Members of the 231st Scouts in Shiregreen packed the boxes full of vintage items and placed them around Sanctuary Housing’s Park View Residential Care Home in Sicey Avenue.

They hope the boxes will help to provoke residents’ memories of times gone by.

The group also planted a sensory garden - featuring lemon, lavender and long grass - as a therapeutic way of stimulating residents’ memories from scent and touch.

Scouts also learned songs from the 1940s to the 1960s and performed them at the care home after being inspired by the Scouts’ A Million Hands project. The scheme calls on Scouts nationwide to address topical issues including people living with dementia.

Melanie King, Sanctuary Housing’s neighbourhood partnerships manager for Shiregreen, said: “The Scouts have done a wonderful job at Park View – they’ve not only supported residents to reflect on past times but also added some colour to the home’s grounds in time for next summer.”

Danny Levick, group Scout leader for Shiregreen Scouts, said: “It’s a project that should have a lasting impact and by next year plants in the sensory garden will be fully grown. This activity has opened the young people’s eyes to dementia.”