Anneka Rice

Anneka Rice Instagram – Oh my goodness. I went to Birkenhead, near Liverpool, today, to visit our Dementia Village, built on Challenge Anneka in 2022. It is flourishing. On a piece of wasteland a team of epic volunteers, builders, craftsmen, built an entire memory village – with pub, post office, record shop, cafe, bakers, cinema, bowling lawn, landscaped gardens! We worked in the pouring rain, in a recession, it was beyond stressful – but I thought my heart would burst, visiting it in the sunshine today, seeing what a difference it has made in this Wirral community. They now have over 400 volunteers helping out. The idea is that someone with dementia can wander safely round the village, dropping in on shops, listening to their favourite record, watching a film, having a singalong in the pub, doing whatever they want. It’s liberating for them and their loved ones because on every corner, sitting in the shops, offering them a cuppa in the cafe, there are carers to help them, chat to them, play bowls with them, sing with them. Each shop is curated to trigger memories. I went down a rabbit hole of memories seeing the Green Shield Stamps in the Post Office! IT IS BRILLIANT. I would love to see this rolled out across the UK. Well done @ageuk_wirral for having such vision 🩵🩵🩵 @age_uk #dementia @alzheimersresearchuk #village #ChallengeAnneka #charity #volunteers #community #joy @channel5_tv | Posted on 22/Jun/2024 00:59:03