THE team behind a project which supports older people through music workshops is calling for WWN readers’ backing to help it win up to £50,000 more funding.

Memories with Music, the result of a tie-up between Somerset Care and Musica, ran for six months after receiving a grant from the Big Lottery Fund in 2015.

Now it is in the final stages of the People’s Projects, where it could win up to £50,000 to support interactive workshops for residents and day care customers, and more training for staff.

ITV’s regional evening news programme today (Wednesday) will show a film based on the project and to secure more funding Memories with Music will need to obtain enough votes in its region, ITV West Country East.

Supporters can register to vote at www.the

peoplesprojects.org.uk – voting closes on April 3. Not-for-profit organisation Somerset Care and Musica are looking to get as many votes as possible to allow them to progress the Memories with Music project further.

Project lead and Somerset Care operations manager Sue Harvey said: “It would be wonderful to secure additional funding to continue our Memories with Music project with Musica.

“The impact the workshops have on our residents is overwhelming and we would really like to offer this project up to older people living in the community.

“The additional funding would allow us to work with Musica to train our own staff in how to deliver the workshops, meaning that we can offer this on a regular basis alongside our varied activities programmes.”

Musica founder Rosie Mead said: “There is a really strong link between music and personal memories – we know this from our own personal experiences.

“We may particularly remember songs associated with our teenage years, first love and holidays. Even for people living with severe dementia, music can bring back memories that may have been long forgotten.

“In our previous project with Somerset Care, we saw residents who normally found it difficult to communicate but were able to sing songs from start to finish.”

The successful six-month project, which took place in 2015/16, involved more than 400 residents in Somerset Care’s care homes. Each month, Musica held an interactive musical workshop which included warm-ups, singing, reminiscence and live music.

The music had great benefits to the residents, including residents living with dementia, as it enhanced their communication, increased their mental well-being and elevated their mood.

One of the participating homes witnessed a non-verbal resident who lives with dementia singing along to one of the songs in a workshop, something that brought tears to staff members’ eyes.