Stepping Hill Hospital launches retro photo competition to support dementia patients

Dementia care and patient experience colleagues at Stockport NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Stepping Hill Hospital and local community NHS services, are running the Reminisce Photograph Competition to find images for a new therapy book to help support these patients.

The appeal is for photographs of buildings, housing, transport, and attractions taken between the years 1940-1990. These can be from Stockport, other areas of Greater Manchester, and areas around the High Peak too.

People living with dementia can be disorientated, anxious and scared, and being in an unfamiliar environments such as a hospital can heighten these feelings.

Familiar images from the past often have a calming effect which can be of great benefit to them.

Ruth Terry, Matron for Dementia Care said; “Being in hospital can be both a frightening and frustrating experience for someone living with dementia.

“Research has consistently shown that images familiar to these people from their past will often have a calming and therapeutic effect for them.

“By creating this book we hope to create a valuable new resource to help both for them and their carers.

“We’re really looking forward to seeing the photos sent by our helpful local photographers.”

Dementia is a syndrome associated with an ongoing decline of brain functioning.

There are many different causes of dementia, and many different types.

It is not only about memory loss. It can also affect the way you speak, think, feel and behave.

These photographs should be ones taken by the person entering the competition, or from their friends and family with permission.

Due to copyright issues, they should not be obtained from publications, unless specific permission has already been given.

Dementia care and patient experience will be using the images from the competition to create a new book which will help with this support.

The winner will feature on the front cover, and will receive a £30 Amazon Voucher, kindly donated by supporters.

For full details and rules, or just to find out more, please email [email protected] .

Entries need to be in by the close of Friday, February, 28 2025.