CROCHET and knitting aficionados are being asked to get creative in aid of Dementia Action Week.
People of all ages are being asked to pick up their needles and create some special woollen Forget-Me-Not flowers that will be displayed in the Museum of East Dorset in Wimborne.
These flowers are the symbol of the campaign run by the Alzheimer’s Society and designed to create a special moment each year, when everyone comes together to honour and remember people affected by dementia.
Dementia Action Week takes place from May 19 to 25, and the museum is requesting that any flowers be handed in by April 23 so a display can be created.
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The patterns are free and available from the Museum of East Dorset reception desk as well as free blue and yellow wool.
Museum of East Dorset director Francesca Hollow said: “We’d love people of all ages to get involved and knit these lovely wool Forget-Me-Not flowers.
“It’s a great intergenerational activity for grandparents and grandkids or for school groups.”
She added; “We’d like completed flowers returned by 23rd April in time for our volunteers to create a display for museum visitors to enjoy – we hope to receive hundreds!”
The display will also highlight the many dementia-friendly programmes the museum offers to the wider community.
These include an innovative Reminiscence outreach project where museum artefacts and objects from bygone eras are used to help bring memories to life for elderly people, especially those living with dementia.
Members of the museum’s award-winning team of experienced volunteers visit day centres, care homes and senior clubs across East Dorset to run these sessions.
Working in partnership with Wimborne Library, the museum also holds monthly ‘Times Gone By’ Reminiscence sessions at the museum site.
There’s ‘Jolly Days’ too, run at the museum by Dorset-based, not-for-profit organisation ‘In Jolly Good Company’. These lively days focus on improving mental and physical health with a range of music, craft and gardening activities for elderly people to get involved in.
To help keep hands and minds busy, there’s special Craft and Chat sessions the third Monday of the month.
“These friendly sessions are open to anyone and invite people to bring along their own project, meet new people, be inspired to try a different craft, and above all, have a good old natter,” a spokesperson said.
The Museum of East Dorset provides dementia-friendly crockery for visitors to its garden café as well as accessory aids including fidget toys to help calm dementia sufferers.
The museum is open Monday to Saturday, 10am until 4pm and is found on Wimborne High Street opposite the Minster Green.
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