Buxton man's memory calendars helping people across the country who are living with dementia

Keith Horncastle created the memory calendar to assist his wife Val, who had dementia, but the idea has proved so popular it has been shared with Alzheimer’s care workers up and down the country.

Now six years after Val’s death the prototype that Keith created when she was still alive is still helping people.

Keith, from Alder Grove said: “Val needed something where she could see just the one day and know what was happening and why the day was important and if there were any doctors appointments or phone calls she had to make.

"She knew it was a good idea and said if it can help me maybe it can help someone else.”

Since then Keith’s calendar has been sold up and down the country and following the past year of lockdowns and social restrictions he has also given meetings to staff of the Alzhiemer’s Society.

He said: “There were some people who had never heard of them but they really do help people.

"It is frustrating for a person living with dementia to keep asking the same questions like ‘why is today important?’

"The memory calendar is not a cluttered calendar where you have to look at the whole month and then forget what day it is even though you are looking at it.

"It restores a sense of dignity to the person who can see for themselves what is happening on a certain day.”

The calendar allows people to write what ever they want on it.

Keith said: “I know one user who writes down the football matches he wants to watch and the times they are on because that is what is important to him."

The 79-year-old says he has no plan on stopping work on the calendars and added: “I do this to remember Val. To pay back to the Alzheimer’s Society and to give me a purpose in life so I keep going.”

The calendars are available from Chris Andrews Publications priced £10. To buy a calendar visit https://cap-ox.com/product/memory-calendar-2021/.

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