“Museum in a box” reminiscence session prompts memories for Norwood Grange residents

Residents of Norwood Grange enjoyed sharing memories of years gone by recently when the care home borrowed a reminiscence box from The Royal Mint Museum.

The miniature “museum in a box” was a huge hit amongst residents and staff alike. Packed with replica and original items from decimalisation – including pre-decimal coins, government posters, and newspapers from 1971, the box gave everyone plenty to chat about. Each object also contained a micro-chip which, when placed on the box, played audio clips and information about the changeover. 

The objects and their audio follow the fictional story of Linda Thomas, a local resident of Llantrisant who shares her experiences of living through the time period, from the initial announcement of decimalisation in 1966 through to D-Day itself in 1971. 

Michelle Ketland, Activities Coordinator at Norwood Grange, explains “We love activities like this! The boxes were a really fun and interesting way to prompt memories by handling the objects. The stories and objects come with conversation prompts which really got everyone chatting and sharing memories. One of our residents told us that her Dad was very against it all happening - but he had no choice, happen it did!”

‘Reminiscence’ therapy - or sharing life experiences, memories, and stories from the past - can be very important for building confidence for people living with dementia. Typically, a person with dementia is more able to recall things from the distant past than recent memories. Reminiscence therapy - including activities like this one provided by the Royal Mint - can give people a sense of confidence and make them feel valued, as well as prompting happy memories. 

Michelle added, “It was a really lovely experience for everyone and brought back so many memories for our residents of their younger years - we heard lots of fascinating stories and everyone thoroughly enjoyed it.”