'I want to save a million memories - one chat at a time'

A storyteller from Cheshire is visiting care homes to record people's memories and life stories which they can share with their families.

Gareth Williams founded Memory Makers after running a creative writing session at a dementia group in Nantwich, and realising he was capturing people's legacies.

He is piloting an app which is made up of a series of simple questions, designed to encourage the interviewee to reminisce about their life and moments that have mattered to them.

Team members in care homes are "buzzing" about the idea, said Williams, as it allows them to discover more about the people they are looking after, with their stories being saved in a tangible way.

The 43-year-old from Crewe, who now lives in Conwy, said the aim is to build up a network of care providers across the UK who want to be part of the subscription-based scheme.

"We want to save a million memories - one conversation at a time," said Williams, who lost his own father a few years ago.

"It's a travesty when the only thing you've really got is a voicenote and it's that which really spurs this whole process and project on."

Gareth's colleague David Foulkes said the app, which can also be used to produce a video book for families to buy, is about people's voices being heard and their memories shared.

"It's sometimes the bits that they don't think are important, like the lady who had a winning dog at Crufts. She just went, 'yeah, we won at Crufts', and you think wow, that's an amazing thing," he said.

Jess Butler, experience coordinator at Belong Crewe, where the app has been piloted, said it was incredible to hear the stories the guided conversations trigger.

"It's amazing to just see the response, one simple question can make a difference to everybody in the care home, and how we can then respond to them."

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