The Musical Madhousewas never planned
As far as career-aspirations go, it wasn’t even on the list. It simply evolved from a combination of bad luck and unconditional love.
My mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2012. She always loved music and still does today.
Unfortunately, most of everything else is gone. She doesn’t recall my Dad (her husband of 54 years) or any of her siblings and friends and I’m usually mistaken for either “the man across the road” or her father who passed away when she was seven! As the saying goes: The lights are on but sadly nobody’s home!
Amazingly, I can pick up the guitar and strum the chords to almost any song from the 1950’s or 60’s and her response is almost immediate. Her foot starts to tap, she lifts up her head, smiles (a scarce but cherished moment) followed by that lovely cheeky wink and she’s off... song after song, note by note, word by word.
There isn’t a drug in the entire world able to do that!
My background is varied and largely irrelevant but includes the trials and tribulations of over 30 years within the Music Business. As well as working under-contractual agreements with an array of different artists, I’ve been fortunate enough to have played hundreds of live shows all over the world including several tours of Japan, USA, South America, Scandinavia and Europe.
As my mother’s condition deteriorated, I stopped working full-time in 2017 to share the responsibility for her care.
I met Paddy Morley a short time later as a result of sourcing various organizations which provided help and support to families.
Paddy managed the local care home (The Meadows) which is situated a short distance from my mum’s home and specialize in dementia care. As well as being a registered nurse of 40 years, Paddy has also managed a succession of care homes over the past 20 years. His knowledge and expertise in the field is literally unsurpassed.
To cut a long story short...
Paddy persuaded me to take on a role of Activity Co-Ordinator at The Meadows on a part-time basis. Up to this point I’d never actually set foot inside a care home. However, Paddy reckoned I had a “natural aptitude” for the job. Ok, he was probably desperate to find someone but what the hell!
There wasn’t any formal training as such. He simply outlined his aims and objectives and allowed me to get on with it. The Meadows literally sowed the seed for the Musical Madhouse, although I wasn’t to know it at the time.
The role of Activity Co-Ordinator actually became something of a labour of love and gave me a tremendous sense of job satisfaction. I set-up an Arts & Crafts workshop and armed with an endless stream of discarded cardboard boxes, paints, glue and sticky-back plastic, we set about recreating some of the resident’s most cherished memories. Eat your heart out Blue Peter…!
With Sunderland being a coastal town, the fun and frolics of the seaside are literally etched into the hearts and minds of the locals. And so, there was a beach hut (salvaged from scrap) which on fine, sunny days served chips, toffee apples and candy floss. We had Punch & Judy, crazy golf, an ice cream cart, fairground paraphernalia and a whole host of beach-related activities. There was even a jukebox and picture house (cinema) which enabled the residents to revisit those bygone, adolescent days of snogging in the back row and rockin’ around the clock!
However, of all the activities, there’s no doubt which one the residents enjoyed most, the SING-ALONGS! And the more interactive we could make them – the better!
Sometimes our renditions were surprisingly good. At other times they were dreadful but either way, we always had a lot of fun.
The Madhouse “characters” such as Fred the Ted and Wor Geordie simply materialized from the resident's recollections of the times and of the many characters they’d met along the way. As I stated at the beginning, The Madhouse was never planned. It simply evolved.
FACT: For many years, neurologists and philosophers have cited an irrefutable link between music and memory for its uncanny ability to transport s us back to a particular moment in time. And in recent years, advances in research and technology have proven this theory beyond mere speculation.
Doctors and healthcare professionals routinely use melodic music and ambient sound to create a sense of calm and wellbeing for sufferers of stress and insomnia. Whilst practitioners of meditation and yoga use the natural sounds of nature to similar effect.
In my mother's case (as with countless others I meet in care homes) I can only compare it to that of someone turning on a light switch!
As well as the hundreds of group sessions I’ve been privileged to host, there’s also the intimate bedside sessions with residents sadly at the very end of their lives. Many of whom won’t have spoken or interacted for weeks, often months. And yet somehow, the music gets through. It’s truly amazing how often it does.
The aim of the Musical Madhouse is simple. To provide a fun and light-hearted afternoon of reminiscence, laughter and song! Our hope is that it delivers even more.
John Casey
(In memory of my late mother Florence. 03/04/32 – 20/10/2020)
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