Hartlepool history group's help to rekindle memories

In the last three years, the History of Hartlepool Group has given out goods totalling £4,500 to homes and organisations that support people who have dementia or Alzheimer’s.

Steve Close of the group recently presented £250 worth of gifts to Warrior Park Care Home in Seaton Carew.

They included old-style board games, music quizzes and authentic replica magazines.

Steve said: “We have done it now for the last three years in every care home in Hartlepool that have requested our help.

“We have given out £4,500 now in total.”

Among the items the group have given out over the years have included karaoke and electric bingo machines, floor bowls, and videos and books relating to the 1930s to 1960s.

Steve added: “They stimulate the memory and it is very good for nostalgia purposes which is most important for people suffering from dementia.

“We provide anything to help keep residents active either physically or mentally.”

All the gifts are paid for out of the proceeds from the history group’s popular DVDs charting the history of Hartlepool over the decades.

They are produced by Steve and Roger Codner in conjunction with the History of Hartlepool in Images Facebook group.

Grateful Warrior Park manager Gail Starling said: “The latest donation included lots of things for activities for nostalgia and remembering.

“They are just invaluable for our residents and really makes a difference to have all these activity items available.

“Steve and the group have been really supportive, especially to the dementia group.”

Other projects the history group have supported over the last year are an art competition with Hartlepool Borough Council and providing new signage for the Heugh Gun Battery museum.

It is also spearheading efforts to replace a statue of a Boer War soldier in Ward Jackson Park.

The history group’s latest DVD and previous DVDs are available from Just Blinds, 160 York Road.