Dementia-friendly art class in Wrexham helps and calms
For Kath, it's also a place where she can relax, chat and seek support from others going through the same things she is, while John, a former engineer, is absorbed in his art works.She said it was part of the week they can "both look forward to", adding that they have "surprised themselves" with what they have achieved."Margaret [the teacher] has this way, she can get anyone to do things. We're so proud of the things we've produced," Kath added.
Work created by Kath and John as well as some of the other 33 members of the class are currently on display at an exhibition at the National Trust property, Chirk Castle, which runs until the middle of August.Dementia champion Frank Hemmings, who has been involved with the art class from the beginning, said it gives them a sense of "pride" to see their work on display.
But he said the real benefit is in the quiet time they spend in the class."It's good therapy. For those two hours, that person living with dementia is calm and enjoying themselves and really engrossed in their art, and their carer... they're given that period of time with peace, amongst like minded people," he said. "They can talk, ask for advice and share issues and problems."He added that some of the art work created is a "really high standard", but said it can sometimes be sad."We see some fabulous art by some... and 10 minutes after they've done it, they don't realise they've done it, I've had that conversation on a lot of occasions," he said.
The way people with dementia draw and paint can also change over time, he added.Jan Keen, from Llangollen, Denbighshire, said her husband Terry, 80, started off in the class four years ago painting things that were recognisable, but now draws in an abstract way."He just enjoys the drawing and he's just evolved over the years," she said. "He's not seeing things in the same way, but still getting something out of it. He's meeting people and getting his ideas down on paper."I just think it's an excellent way of expressing himself."
The class teacher Margaret Roberts has taught watercolour painting for 30 years and says the dementia friendly group is "full of love". "Some say it's the highlight of their week... the joy of painting and drawing together and just having a nice time doing it," she said. "There's banter between the couples... it's just fun."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Record
26 minutes ago
- Daily Record
Scots chemist believes drugs to treat Alzheimer's will be available in five years
Professor David MacMillan won the Nobel Prize in 2021. A Scots chemist believes drugs to treat Alzheimer's disease will be available within five years. Professor David MacMillan, 57, who is originally from North Lanarkshire, said "phenomenal things" are happening within medical research into neurological diseases. He won a Nobel Prize after developing a new way of building molecules, leading to developments in drugs for Alzheimer's, cancer and heart disease. MacMillan told the BBC: "I would bet my house that within five years that we have marketed drugs for Alzheimer's. "My father died of vascular dementia and my aunt had dementia. I think that's such a horrible way to go." The Princeton University professor said winning the Nobel Prize in 2021 has made a massive impact on his life. "On a Tuesday morning, I was a chemist that nobody, including half my pals, had been interested in talking to," he said. "Then on the Wednesday, I was talking to like the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. "It was crazy - and I thought it would slow down but it just keeps on going." MacMillan was awarded a half share of £842,611 and used it to set up The May and Billy MacMillan Foundation, named after his parents, where he funds Scottish students, providing educational opportunities to underprivileged young people.
Telegraph
26 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Vaccinate your children, parents urged amid surge in measles
Parents have been urged to vaccinate their children during the summer holidays amid a global surge in measles. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) fears cases could rise rapidly once the new school term begins in September, with its latest data showing that there have been 145 cases since the last report on July 3. That brings the total since Jan 1 to 674 cases. London and the North West are driving the increase, the agency said, with the majority of infections in children aged under 10. Almost half (48 per cent) of the 674 cases for the year so far have been in London, with 16 per cent in the North West and 10 per cent in the east of England. It comes amid a global rise in measles over the past year, and the UKHSA is concerned that travel during the summer holidays could lead to increased cases in England when the new school term begins. Measles is highly infectious and can lead to serious complications. People with the infection have cold and flu-like symptoms, with a rash appearing a few days later.
BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
First war-injured Gazan child arrives in UK for treatment
Majid Shaghnobi can't eat or speak like he used to. He can't with his injured mouth covered by a surgical mask, his eyes were beaming as he arrived at London's Heathrow airport on a flight from Cairo, with his mother, brother and little sister."I'm happy to be in England and to get treatment," the 15-year-old told was out trying to get humanitarian aid in the Kuwaiti area of northern Gaza in February last year when an Israeli tank shell exploded nearby, shattering his jaw bone and injuring his leg."One of my friends helped me and took me to the hospital," he says. "They thought I was dead. I had to move my hand to show them that I was alive."Doctors in Gaza saved his life and Majid spent months in hospital, breathing through a tracheostomy tube, before he was evacuated to Egypt in February this year - with Israel's permission - for further medical he's in the UK for surgery at Great Ormond Street children's hospital in London to restore the function of his face. He is the first Gazan child to arrive in the UK for treatment for war injuries, almost two years into a conflict in which more than 50,000 children have reportedly been killed or injured, according to the UN children's charity, Unicef. His arrival follows months of work by a group of volunteer medical professionals who came together in November 2023 to set up Project Pure Hope, which helps injured and sick Gazan children get to the UK for treatment. It is funded by private donations."The UK is home to some of the best paediatric facilities in the world, yet while countries like the US, Belgium, Italy, Switzerland and many others have stepped up to help, the UK has yet to do the same," Project Pure Hope arrival in the UK comes less than a week after Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer promised to evacuate more badly injured children, although the government has released few details of the medical team – all working for free – will include craniofacial, plastic and orthodontic surgeons, with hospital bills paid for by private donations."If we're able to give him a face and a jaw which he can use then it won't be completely normal, but hopefully he'll be able to feed himself and speak, and his facial expressions will be better," says lead surgeon Noor ul Owase Jeelani, a professor of Paediatric Neurosurgery at Great Ormond Street."Hopefully that's going to make a big impact on how he lives and on his future."Our hope is that we will be able to help many more children like him in the coming months. It's our collective moral responsibility." Doctors from the hospital have previously treated patients from Ukraine, and last year helped separate co-joined twins in Jeelani is disappointed that it has taken so long for the first child from Gaza to be treated for war injuries in the UK."As a doctor and as a human, I don't quite understand why it's taken us over 20 months to get to this stage," he Pure Hope has identified 30 critically injured children in Gaza who it hopes to help bring to the UK. It says the government's announcement is "vital and long-overdue", but time is of the essence."Every day of delay risks the lives and futures of children who deserve a chance to live, to recover and to rebuild a life," said Omar Din, its co-founder. In April, the group of volunteers secured visas for two girls -13-year-old Rama and five-year-old Ghena - with life-long medical conditions to also have privately funded operations in the were brought to London after being evacuated to Egypt from Gaza, where - with the destruction of the healthcare system there - they weren't receiving the treatment they I met them in early May, Rama has put on weight and Ghena, who was deeply traumatised and withdrawn, is noticeably more has had laser surgery to relieve the pressure in her left eye, which she was at risk of losing. And Rama has had exploratory surgery for a serious bowel girls are doing well, their mothers they are sick with worry - finding it hard to eat and sleep - about family members left behind in Gaza, who are now struggling to feed themselves."It's better than Gaza here," Rama tells me. "There are no bombs and no fear."But friends message her from Gaza, telling her that they haven't found bread for 10 days and she says her older brother is sleeping on the street after first his home, and then his tent, were bombed."They're hungry. So I don't want to eat either. I feel like I'm still there with them," Rama experts said this week there was mounting evidence that widespread starvation, malnutrition and disease is driving a rise in hunger-related deaths among the 2.1 million Palestinians in who suffered life-changing injuries while out trying to get food for his family, is also worried about his two brothers still in Gaza."I'm scared that they'll die or something will happen to them," he says. "I just want them to be safe."
