Brain health and wellbeing initiatives

Promoting good brain health is a great way to reduce the risk of dementia as well as helping to slow disease progression.  Find tips on how to improve your brain health here.

We know that engaging in creative activities can improve the health and wellbeing of people living with dementia. Greater Manchester will be the first city region in the world to realise the power of creativity, culture, and heritage in addressing inequities and improving the health and wellbeing of its residents and the Greater Manchester Creative Health Strategy launched in November 2022, setting out the role of creative health in addressing health inequalities across the life course. With this in mind, Dementia United set up a several small grant funds to support creative activity and brain health.

Bounce back fund (2022)

We supported postal arts projects, pamper sessions, mindfulness classes, days out on the canal and trips to RHS Bridgewater, Easter parties, Jubilee tea parties, South Asian Carers groups, singing and dancing events, numerous live entertainment sessions, dementia awareness videos in Hindi & Gujarati and much, much more including one-off grants between £750 – £1200. Projects were fully co-produced from day one and aimed at grass roots organisations to help them get back on their feet after Covid 19.

Our evaluation feedback from the 2022 Bounce Back Fund demonstrated just how important creative arts and healthy living are to people living with dementia and their carers:

Caring for someone 24/7 can be isolating, lonely and exhausting.  Coming along to the Music and Dance gives me a place where I know the other people understand what the situation is…My husband loves the singing, and it is wonderful to see the glimmer of the man that I married.

The group gives me a chance to stop and relax on a regular basis. This ‘me-time’ is a chance to catch my breath and gives me energy to continue my caring duties.

I observed my father come alive. He was smiling, laughing, and chatting in a way I have not seen for many years

I speak on behalf of all the attendees at the lunches when I say many thanks to Dementia United for helping to tackle isolation and keeping people connected

A small investment had a big impact!

Big Brain Health Fund (2023)

We awarded 24 one-off grants of up to £5,000 to kick start creative arts & healthy living projects.  The key focus was on sustainability to support Dementia United’s strategic focus on brain health. Read more

Creativity in care homes project

A joint initiative between Adult Social Care, Creative Health, and Dementia United, was developed to explore the feasibility of embedding creative care into care homes across Greater Manchester. Read more