AN INNOVATIVE scheme is helping people with dementia reclaim their identities by reconnecting them with their past careers.

The 'Work Matters' project is the brainchild of Nightingale Hall Care Home manager Mike Campling who wanted his residents to feel fulfilled and valued within their community.

After observing two residents bickering over who got to serve tea from the care home trolley, he realised that feeling useful and having a job was something that was important the home's residents.

Mr Campling set about matching residents with businesses in Richmond that were relevant to their working lives and organised for them to spend time in an industry environment that was once so familiar to them.

The first to be paired up was Jeanette Williamson, who at 76 needs round-the-clock care for her dementia.

In her previous life, Mrs Williamson was a flirtatious pub landlady and after working a shift at The Talbot Hotel in Richmond, the twinkle was back in her eye.

She said: "I used to like the pub life - I liked the men actually!

"I think I did OK behind the bar, I remembered how to do it and how not to spill the drinks or let them overflow."

Michelle Atkins, landlady of The Talbot, has fully embraced the scheme and is delighted to have Mrs Williamson behind the bar.

She said: "I am all for it. Instead of them all just sitting around in homes this gets them all out, gets them socialising and doing what they enjoy.

"You can just see her eyes light up, she loved every single minute of it."

In a quirk of coincidence, the pub that Mrs Williamson used to run was called The Talbot Inn and Ms Atkins said: "I have got the right clientele here, she was just chatting away with them quite happily, that is the environment we have here and it is ideal for her to communicate with them all."

Mrs Williamson's daughter, Zoe McCoy, has seen first-hand how the work is benefitting her mother.

She said: "After my stepfather died she had become a bit isolated and didn't socialise.

"Now there is always something going on at Nightingale Hall and this in particular is great; pub work is like second nature to her and it is nice to see her like her old self again."

Mr Campling said that while people with dementia often struggle with short-term memory loss, their long-term recollection can remain strong.

So putting them back into a work environment they experienced decades ago can be hugely beneficial.

He said: "When Jeanette is in the home she can be incredibly anxious, a lot of them are like that in a home, and the difference when she is here in the pub is huge.

"She is relaxed, she is happy.

"It is like muscle memory for her - she still pulls a great pint!"

Other residents set to benefit from the scheme include a former farmer who has been invited to spend time on a Richmond farm and a former builder and joiner who will join labourers on a building site on their lunch break to talk about their work.

Mr Campling said: "We would love to break down some of the stigma and barriers around dementia.

"Some people still have the idea that they need to be kept in isolation in a home but that isn't true.

"Just because they can't remember what they did last week doesn't mean that they don't have value."

Mr Campling is keen for the scheme to be rolled out across Richmond and beyond. It has already been taken on by Nightingale Hall's umbrella group, Wellburn, to be implemented in all 14 of their care homes.

And Mr Campling said he is more than happy to help other care homes and organisations to implement the scheme.

He said: "We want this to be a movement, not just a thing we do."

Any businesses who feel they can offer a resident work experience, or any group wanting to get involved can contact Mr Campling on 01748-823003.