Fundraising Trek To The Top Of Britain For Older People Suffering From Dementia

A Scottish woman has conquered the UK’s highest mountain in a fundraising effort to help improve the quality of life of Bield tenants living with dementia.

Suzanne Rosenshine, granddaughter of Jean Murphy who lives at Bield’s Munro Court, climbed 4,406ft to reach the summit of Ben Nevis raising nearly £2,000 for the Care Home in Glasgow.

This fantastic achievement has allowed the tenants at the development to take a trip down memory lane with the money being used to buy a Pop up Reminiscence Pod (RemPod). RemPods are designed to replicate rooms from a bygone era by turning a space into a therapeutic and calming environment specifically with people who live with dementia in mind.

The 37 year old paralegal from Glasgow said: “When I heard about RemPods I thought they sounded fantastic, so after my Gran moved into Munro Court 9 months ago I decided I wanted to raise money to buy one.

“Climbing Ben Nevis is something I have wanted to do for a number of years, I naïvely thought it’d be easy, but this gave me the motivation to do it.

“I’m so grateful to everyone who sponsored us, if it wasn’t for them doing so I don’t think I would have been able to get to the summit. I’m so pleased with this achievement but I’m certainly not going to be rushing back up there anytime soon.”

The theme of RemPods vary from pubs, to vintage tea rooms and beach scenes. With the £2,000 from the fundraiser Munro Court purchased an old fashioned cinema themed RemPod where tenants can now enjoy movies on a big screen in the comfort of their own lounge.

Charlotte Brady, Centre Manager at Munro Court said: “The RemPod is great as it provides authentic items from the past to see, touch and interact with. It acts as a starting point for lots of conversation and happy memories.

“Tenants have the opportunity to watch old films, musicals and landmark events in history including the Queen’s coronation.

“As well as the old film footage we have boxes of popcorn, a cinema sign and old cinema posters. It really is fantastic and the tenants love it, there is always someone using it.”

The installation of this new technology is in line with Bield’s ‘Free to Be’ philosophy – which lets people make their own choices about how they live their lives while being there to support them when they need it.

Kevin Rowe, Fundraiser at Bield said: “As an organisation we are always looking for new ways to raise money to improve the quality of the lives of the people we care for, and it is brilliant that family members also want to get involved.

“Our housing and care is designed specifically with the older person in mind and I believe these fundraisers help us to ensure we are always providing the best service we possibly can.

“Raising such a sum of money under your own steam is an amazing achievement and Suzanne and her friends who joined her should be extremely proud. From everyone at Bield we would like to say a huge well done and thank you for all your effort and support.”