Reminiscence

 

Items from a loan box

Museum Of Technology Hemel Hempstead

 

Reminiscing

Museum Of Technology Hemel Hempstead

The Museum of Technology Hemel Hempstead, in partnership with Hertfordshire Museums, offers a Reminiscence Loan Box Scheme.

The loan boxes contain objects that can be used as memory prompts, ideally for the use of carers with older people in care. Our boxes contain a collection of replica and genuine artefacts, documents and pictures, and everything is designed for respectful handling.

Reminiscence therapy is a powerful way of helping empower people with dementia by accessing long-term memories. It can bring pleasure, stimulation and meaning, and has the potential to lift depression and improve communication.

There are three boxes, each of which contains images and objects from the 1940s and 1950s which people can handle. Each box explores a different theme:

• ‘At Home’ includes a 78rpm record, dolly pegs, old money, sewing and mending, a knitted tea cosy, a button hook, a darning mushroom, and lots more.
• ‘Going Out’ includes, a ‘day at the sea side’, a box of old games, a ‘Box Brownie’ camera, post cards, VE Day newspaper, ration books and ID cards.
• ‘Ladies Things’ includes a girdle, stockings, hair pins, cami top, silk scarf, ration book and a fan, and ‘Men’s Things’, (in an old OXO tin) includes a red driving license, a valve, a 10 bob note, a pound note, old pennies and threepenny pieces.

For any information regarding the Reminiscence Loan Box Scheme, contact Rosie on 01442 218381 or 01442 262541. There is also more information on the museum’s website: http://www.museumoftechnology.org.uk/.

The loan boxes are £5 per week or £15 for four weeks. We ask that a loans agreement form is signed and a checklist is provided along with an evaluation form.

Alternatively, a member of staff from the museum is happy to bring the boxes to your venue, and conduct a ‘Reminiscence Session’ with a small group approximately eight people. We do ask that a carer is present at these sessions, and an appropriate donation to the museum would be appreciated.