At a special event on 22 November at the Scottish Parliament to celebrate 10 years of the creative ageing agency Luminate Scotland, Claire Weddle, an NHS Activities Co-ordinator at Melburn Lodge Dementia Unit, won an award for going above and beyond in lockdown to ensure the ladies and gents in her care at the dementia unit Melburn Lodge, Melrose, still had access to creative activities and visits.
Hearts & Minds Elderflowers Hilde McKenna and Maria Oller were delighted to nominate Claire Weddle for the Arts in Older People’s Healthcare Award.
Hilde and Maria both regularly visit the dementia unit Melburn Lodge, part of Borders General Hospital, and spend the day with the ladies and gents to connect and engage with them and provide a distraction from their usual routine. Our Elderflowers have visited this unit for many years and when lockdown came along in 2020 we were concerned that the visits would have to stop completely.
However, Claire, who is the Therapeutic Activities Co-ordinator, spoke with Hilde and Maria and the team at Hearts & Minds and Claire managed to set up online virtual visits on a laptop in the lounge and in individual rooms, that meant the Elderflowers could still meet with the ladies and gents when they were deprived of visits from family and friends due to restrictions.
Claire worked tirelessly with the Elderflowers to ensure that vital visits to people living at Melburn Lodge dementia unit continued throughout covid restrictions. This included supporting online activities, and later the return of in-person visits by the Elderflowers.
We were delighted that Claire was selected as the worthy winner of the Award and was presented with it at the reception along with five other winners in different categories.
Luminate said:
“Our winners are fabulous and their accolades are well deserved, but all our nominees across the six award categories were inspiring.
They have all been part of shining a light on the many people and projects across Scotland that are part of our creative culture, and who make such a huge difference to so many lives through their talent, inventiveness and heart.”
If you would like to read more about the Luminate Creative Ageing Awards please click HERE
