What everyday sounds are special to you? Harborough communities invited to take part a project to help people living with dementia

Paarth and Shivani use music to give them a lift during lockdown.

A project has been launched in Leicestershire to capture the sounds which mean so much to people every day of their lives.

Communities across Harborough and throughout the county are being invited to take part by recording and submitting their sounds.

Your contributions will then be added to an archive to be used by groups working with people living with dementia to trigger memories, conversations and pleasure.

Bharti shares her kitchen sounds to stimulate reminiscence.

Leicestershire County Council’s Participation Team is backing the ambitious national Unlocking Our Sounds scheme to collect and preserve sound recordings from across the county’s diverse communities.

The initiative is led by the British Library, with funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund and involving ten regional hubs across the UK.

The Midlands hub is based at the University of Leicester.

It has commissioned the Participation Team to gather and create sound resources which will ultimately be used in reminiscence work with people living with dementia.

Resources collected through the Simply Sounds project will be used to develop new sound-based activities which will be made available digitally.

The team is now calling for communities, groups and individuals to create a two-minute recording of a sound that means something to them and share it with the project, under the banner Simply Sounds.

The sound recording can be of anything – as long as it’s important to the community, group or individual.

It could be related to a hobby, homelife, pets, nature, work or any other area of inspiration.

Cllr Richard Blunt, county council cabinet member for heritage, leisure and arts, said: “This project which gives people from all communities across Leicestershire the chance to share the sounds which are important to them, while at the same time, helping to create a vital resource which will be a hugely beneficial legacy for the future.”

Anyone who would like to take part in the Simply Sounds project is asked to make a two-minute recording of their sound on a mobile phone or other device.

You are also being urged to take three photographs which illustrate the sound.

There’s a short animated film which explains more about what to do at https://youtu.be/VOH2vDeYFyAThe sound and images should then be emailed to [email protected] or sent via WhatsApp on 07526 928704.

Anyone who would like to find out more about the project is invited to join in a free one-hour Zoom session which will give more background and a simple step-by-step guide to taking part.

The sessions run on Tuesday February 9 and Wednesday February 24, both from 2.30pm to 3.30pm.

To book onto one of the sessions, please email [email protected]