Spring has Sprung… time to deliver more smiles.
With Springtime and Easter upon us it was time for me to deliver more smiles. As you will know if you have read my previous blogs, I feel passionately about the care and well being of the vulnerable and elderly, and am on a mission to try and make them smile and not feel alone. This includes thinking about the 944,000 people who live with dementia in the UK (according to Alzheimer’s UK).
In any spare time I had since the start of 2024 I made more book fold hedgehogs, knitted some rabbits which I filled with Easter goodies and also made rabbits from flannels. I was then lucky enough to have a stall at a local care home’s Easter Fair. The hedgehogs and rabbits were popular with the visitors. Having read how participating in arts and craft sessions has many benefits for dementia patients I decided to do something to help the residents further. Research has shown that through doing arts and crafts dementia patients sensory perception can improve and it can help them to communicate their feelings through freedom of expression. Their senses can be stimulated through the use of different colours, shapes and textures allowing them to feel more relaxed and happier. With dementia affecting the neural pathways in the brain, resulting in loss of memory. Creating art can help in the creation of new neural pathways, allowing for better memory and recall. As dementia involves a loss of synapses between neurones in the brain along with the loss of the neurones themselves, arts and craft activities can help in the creation of new neural pathways which can result in better memory and recall function. After reading about the positive impact such activities can I have, using my takings from the fair, I filled and donated a bag with craft items for the Activities Co-ordinator to use in craft sessions with the residents. I am also hoping that during the Summer Holiday I can go and volunteer to help do crafts at some of these sessions.
As well as donating craft items, I also made hedgehogs and rabbits for the residents to make them smile for Easter. It was a privilege to talk with them and to see them taking the items to their rooms. As I also think carers who do such an amazing job but are all too frequently forgotten, I made and gave rabbits and hedgehogs to them too. Recycling and repurposing items continued to remain a theme for my crafting and like always I used recycled books and textiles to make my items. Sending all these smiles made me so happy, indeed an absolute privilege to be able to do so.
In between all this, I am training for Race for Life, which I am doing on 12 May, so if you can spare a few pennies for this fantastic cause, I would be so grateful. Thank you!
Click here to support me along the way!
Remember, a little thought, a little consideration for others makes all the difference.
Keep sending those smiles!
- Imie James, U6B
