Portman Road’s Champions Lounge was the venue for a dementia initiative last week instigated by Steve Robbins from the Debenham Project, an organisation which supports carers and those with dementia. This week is National Dementia Awareness Week.
Steve came up with the idea after visits to an elderly ex-professional footballer living locally to him: "I live in the village and I regularly visit Brian, who was one of our long-standing participants in the Carers Club, Info Café and the Cross Green Food ‘n Friends lunch club until he had to go into residential care.
"He and I share a passion for football and although he now finds it very difficult to communicate, it is clear that he still very much enjoys sharing this interest.
"For example, despite his dementia, he can still remember much of his time playing as a professional footballer and name former team-mates when shown old photographs.”
After finding out about a project in Scotland, Steve decided to set up a club where football fans with memory difficulties and symptoms of dementia can socialise and share their reminiscences. The idea is to help those with dementia, especially men as they are usually particularly difficult to engage with.
With the help of the ITFC Charitable Trust and the Ipswich Town Football Archive Project, the initiative is now being trialed with last week's the first event.
"It was a very special occasion indeed,” Steve said. "The Champions Lounge was filled with people sharing their memories and reliving those heydays when the club, led by Sir Alf and Sir Bobby, gained the respect of the footballing world as well as winning trophies. Many players were international stars and they still are.”
Former Blues Allan Hunter, John Wark, and Bryan Hamilton came along and got involved, which Steve says helped make the day special: "Just to see the faces of the football fans when they suddenly realised who had come to meet and chat with them was a joy.
"I cannot really describe how it felt to be a part of it — it was a privilege. It also confirmed that there is no such thing as being unable to enhance the quality of life for those with serious memory problems and dementia — it often just needs someone with a shared passion to ‘unlock’ the memories and open up an animated discussion or a treasured recollection.”
Eventually, after further development, including increasing the number of volunteers, it is hoped that the initiative might be taken county-wide and made a special feature of Suffolk’s dementia support scene.
For more details, contact ITFC Charitable Trust on 01473 400588 or via its website. For further information about the Ipswich Town Football Archive Project click here.