Darlington Court residents’ stories in the limelight for dementia-friendly theatre project

Home news

Jul 21, 2019

Residents at Darlington Court saw their life stories take centre stage during a theatre project with a local school.

Residents took part in a special theatre project with students from Angmering School. 

As part of the project, students gathered the residents’ most treasured memories over the past few weeks, before turning them into short plays, which they performed for them at the home. One of the plays, written for resident Barbara Baker, focused on the outbreak of war, and how she was separated from her husband and brother at the time. It then depicted her love of art, her life working at an art gallery and her marrying again years later, before moving to Darlington Court.  

Home manager at Darlington Court, Nikki Burke, said: “We believe it isimportant to learn about dementia from a young age, and hope that this project will raise awareness of the condition for pupils, as well as their parents, teachers and the local community.

“Theatre can be a wonderful way to bring people together, while helping older people to reminisce about their younger years. Everyone had a fantastic time getting to know each other, and residents were thrilled about the plays that the students had written using their memories. We’d like to say a big thank you to everyone at Angmering School who contributed to this special project.”