May 14 - Memory Bank: the power of memories against dementia

This week we have invited Sue Howard, Director of the Yorkshire Film Archive, to write for Ostrich on the Memory Bank project and on the benefits of films to stimulate the memory of dementia sufferers.

19^th-25^th May: Dementia Awareness Week or Cannes Film Festival?

Occasionally there are times when completely unrelated events suddenly come together, creating the strangest of synergies and connections. Here is one of them.

This month we have all the glamour of the world’s best known film festival in Cannes. At the same time, back here in the UK, huge energy will be channelled into promoting National Dementia Awareness Week, drawing attention to the increasing growth statistics for dementia, and acting as the catalyst for events and activities across the country to raise awareness of the issues faced by people affected by, or caring for those living with dementia.

So how do these two worlds collide?

Far from the razzmatazz of celebrity Cannes, the film sector is an important, hardworking industry, responsible not only for cinema feature films, but a plethora of educational and cultural delivery across the UK. One key area is that of our film heritage, dating back over a century to the birth of film in 1888, and this is where the connections begin.

Our history captured on film

In archives across the UK there are millions of feet of film; non- fiction, often amateur home movies which have, at times inadvertently, captured the social history of the 20th century on film: family life, holidays, where we went to school, the transport of the time, towns across the UK, the shops, streets, parks, and events and activities from Coronation street parties to children’s day parades and local sports days.

Collective memories & personal memories

All of these are part of our shared, collective memories; trigger points for remembering the day spent building sandcastles on the beach, the knitted bathing costumes, the first day at school, or our first job. The connections between our personal memories and collective memories of times past are strong and evocative – and often easier to recall for people with memory related disorders than the current demands of everyday life. 

Film archives and dementia: triggering memories

One film archive in Yorkshire recognised this, observing the impact that archive footage from the 1940s, ‘50s and ‘60s has on audiences coming to watch their annual programme of community screenings. People start to talk to each other, remembering the grocer’s shop on the corner of their street, the local dances, the school dinners and aversion to the compulsory playtime bottle of milk... 

Memory Bank: unlocking memories through archive footage

For the past two years, the Yorkshire Film Archive has been working with health care professionals, families and individuals to research and develop a brand new resource called Memory Bank, which is all about using archive footage to unlock those memories, stimulating reminiscences and providing new talking points for families, friends, staff and carers often struggling to move beyond the daily challenges of living with, or caring for, people with memory disorders. 

The Memory Bank pack

Memory Bank is a complete pack, with themed DVDs, a comprehensive user guide and a wealth of information about the decades spanning the 1920s to the 1970s, to prompt even more topics for discussion. Each DVD contains 6 archive films, carefully edited to highlight and trigger memories. Themes cover holidays, schooldays, working life, domestic life, sport, and fêtes, fair and fireworks.

Responses to Memory Bank

First responses to Memory Bank are astonishing, from hospice settings to family gatherings, residential care home activities sessions to social dementia café gatherings – people are coming together to enjoy the films, to laugh together and share memories together. 

The importance of preserving our home movie films

The first Cannes Film Festival took place in 1949 – creating an archive all of its own.  But as well as feature films, how many millions of feet of home movie films have been made since then – and how many memories have been captured on those films? If we can find them, preserve them, digitise them, edit them and create access to them then we have a fantastic resource that can help unlock memories for generations to come – now that would be a fantastic Memory Bank for the future!

For more information about Memory Bank, visit the Memory Bank website, email [email protected], or call 01904 876399.