MUSIC man Mike Bettison had special reason to smile this week.
Mike led his 200th singing session for those living with dementia.
The fortnightly sessions began as Singing for the Brain, organised by the Alzheimer’s Society.
After the society stepped back, the group is run by volunteers as Making Memories.
It meets weekly at the TCR, alternating between Mike’s music session and an afternoon of fun and games.
To mark his 200th session, special treats were on offer as carers and their loved ones gathered for this week’s singalong.
Mike, from Bowes, said: “At the time they approached me, my mother had been recently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, so I had a personal reason as well for starting.”
He noted that singing has a unique way of invoking memories for many people who live with dementia.
“Dementia strikes in very different ways for different people. I have been to a few conferences on this and they do say that in the majority of cases music and song is the last thing to go – it stays longer in the memory. It is the short-term memory that normally is affected first,” he said.
“Over the years I have had very good feedback from carers. Singing is good for the soul.”
Volunteer and organiser for Making Memories Nicky Tulloch added that the sessions benefit not only the person living with the disease, but also their carers.
She added: “We have always encouraged carers to come along as well, even if they leave their loved one with us so they can go off and have some time for themselves. Very often they stay and enjoy it just as much.
“Everybody always goes home with a smile on their face. Mike always tries to make the sessions lively and sometimes informative as well because there are often stories behind the songs that he picks. Generally, people leave feeling uplifted.”
Ms Tulloch said an added benefit for carers is that they can speak to volunteers about some of the difficulties or issues they face and can be signposted to solutions or simply act as a “soundboard”.
Sessions are made possible through funding from the Ballinger Trust.
Each fortnight Mike chooses a theme and “Love songs” was chosen for the 200th session because it fell so close to Valentine’s Day.
He said: “We do a whole range – the oldest song I have a date for in this session is 1899, I’ll Be Your Sweetheart by Alan Dacre, but then we are doing The Beatles’ Love Me Do.” Another favourite on the theme was Love and Marriage, originally by Frank Sinatra.
