Remember to Dance in Tower Hamlets is a dance and live music session for people living with dementia and their carers and companions. Due to lack of funding, we are no longer able to run these sessions which has left a huge void for some of our participants. Our sessions are mentally stimulating and creatively inspiring, while at the same time participants develop skills in dance and movement, including co-ordination, balance, motor skills, body and spatial awareness while working towards greater flexibility in tendons and joints, better cardiac functioning, and muscle strength. The sessions take place in a friendly and non-threatening atmosphere and contribute to the psychological and physical well-being of older people living with dementia and their carers, combating isolation. We have had no choice but to stop these sessions due to lack of funding and we know that our participants are desperate to return. For some, these sessions were the highlight of their week.

What we'll deliver:

• 30 x Remember to Dance sessions at Oxford House in Bethnal Green
• 10 x Intergenerational sessions bringing older people together with local primary school children
• Foster intergenerational relationships and understanding between different age groups and abilities
• Promote community cohesion through intergenerational working
• Increase wellbeing and physical health of our participants and improve their quality of life
• Increase understanding and awareness of dementia in the local community

Why it's a great idea:

Here at Green Candle we are passionate about providing opportunities to dance to those with least access and we have seen first hand the impact that our earlier programme, Remember to Dance, had. With lack of funding and huge cuts to local authority budgets, support for Dance and Dementia is needed now more than ever. Nearly everybody has some connection with dementia and it's vital that people with dementia are embraced into communities, not pushed aside. Some comments: "It was so good to see mum joining in and laughing so much, she loved all the praise you gave her and it stayed with her the rest of the day. ‘The work done here is so valuable in waking up the brain to connections’ ‘I really like dancing and making up dance moves with the school children’. ‘The students gained a deeper understanding of dementia. They also realised how they could have a positive impact on others.'

Steps to get it done:

• Confirm partnership with local primary school for intergenerational sessions
• Recruit volunteers to assist delivery of the sessions
• Recruit musicians to perform live music
• Contact previous participants, prepare publicity material and promote to a wider audience (care homes, day centres etc)
• Risk assessment and safeguarding checks

For many people, dementia can seem like a long dark tunnel with no light at the end. We believe that this is not inevitable, that there is real joy, fulfilment and empowerment available to people living with dementia and that dance and music contribute greatly to a good quality of life . More and more evidence supports our view that sessions like ours work on many different levels - physical, cognitive, emotional and social - to support and enhance people's sense of their own 'personhood', reawaken their innate creativity and reconnect them to loved ones. For the project's final 10 weeks, the participants will be joined by a group of young people from a local school, connecting generations, learning together and strengthening our communities. Further impact is felt by carers, who often experience isolation and depression themselves, but who can find in these sessions valuable respite and a renewed relationship with those they care for.