Discover historic gems in the town of Christchurch, Dorset
Thanks to funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, the team at Red House Museum have created seven short films that reveal the fascinating stories behind some unique historical points of interest in Christchurch.
The team have been working together with volunteers for the last two years on a special project, aimed at increasing access to the local heritage for people living with dementia and their carers - Still Curious. Trained to lead dementia-friendly health-walks from the museum, the volunteers had already developed the presentations you will see in the films as part of their programme of public walks.
This programme of walks, entitled Tuesday Strolls, launched to the public just a few weeks before the first national lockdown and sadly all activities within the project, including the museum’s Curiosity Café, a social programme for people with dementia and their carers, had to cease.
The team responded by looking at ways to continue engagement with people living with dementia and carers. They worked together with the project coordinator to develop a weekly Still Curious Activity Pack and to get the Tuesday Strolls online. If people could not get together to enjoy a sociable walk, then they would create a way to give local people the opportunity to enjoy these accessible walks in their own time, within their household or bubble.
The solution was to develop a new app called Still Strolling. The app is designed for people with dementia and carers in mind, but accessible to all, and is now available to download free onto any smart device. It includes a map that locates all seven points of interest featured in these films. Laid out within the app, in a straightforward format, are each of the seven routes.
Fortnightly, we will share one of these films on Culture on Call and invite you to explore the Still Strolling app to find out more and locate these unique and quirky town features on the map.
Stroll 1: The Bandstand
This week we are taking a trip to the Bandstand. The Bandstand stands on the riverside recreation area known as The Quomps. It was erected in 1938 to celebrate the coronation of King George VI.
To download the app for IOS click here or Android click here.
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