Penrith and Eden Museum awarded Heritage Lottery Funding for their Remembering Eden Project

It is with delight that we announce Penrith and Eden Museum has been awarded £4,300 from the Heritage Lottery Fund for their project, Remembering Eden.

Remembering Eden is an inspirational Heritage Lottery Funded project to bring together cross-generational groups and those living with Dementia to share stories of their lives living in the Eden Valley.

Dementia is one of the major challenges in the 21st Century. An estimated 921 people are living with Dementia in Eden, with a predicted diagnosis of 1,268 people by 2025. In developing new partnerships with local care homes and Dementia groups, we have asked them to take part in the creation of Reminiscence boxes for future museum programming, and to take part in creating an art installation that will slowly take shape during the exhibition. Reminiscence and art practice are recommended as tools to promote social inclusion and improve the quality of life of those living with Dementia.

Everyone taking part in the project will make a piece of felt that will feature their name and date of birth. The wool fibres are tactile, and the aim is to stimulate different senses while the groups will learn the skills of felting. Artist, Karen MacDougall, will then make the felt petals into forget-me-nots, and this will become part of a much larger installation. It will represent how Dementia affects all the lives it touches.

Within the exhibition, the Museum will show highlights from their collection that evoke shared story-telling in their reminiscence sessions.  The exhibition will be launching in February, so watch this space!