“Dementia: Understand Together” is the national public awareness campaign in Ireland and The Alzheimer Society of Ireland is a key partner. The campaign’s “Memories are Made of This” 1950s-themed show garden, which was about facilitating the therapeutic benefits of reminiscence, was a dementia-inclusive garden at this year’s Bloom Festival, Ireland biggest garden show.
The garden, named after the song made famous by 1950s crooner Dean Martin, and the creation of award-winning designer Robert Moore, took people back in time to when gardens not only provided food for the soul, but food for the table too. It featured a manicured formal space with box hedges and tea roses emblematic of the era, as well as a practical fruit and vegetable patch that provided much of what was on the menu in people’s homes at the time.
Many of the treasures from the 1950s featured in the garden, were inspired by the personal reflections of members of the Alzheimer Society of Ireland’s Bloomfield Social Club in Dublin, who engaged with the team in a series of workshops to inform the design and content elements of the garden.
Not only did the “Dementia: Understand Together” garden win the Silver Gilt medal, but on the final day of Bloom, it was announced as the winner of the People’s Choice Award, which was voted for by visitors to the show over the five days. For more information on the Dementia: Understand Together campaign visit www.understandtogether.ie
