A PROJECT aimed at helping people with dementia born in Basingstoke is set to go international.

The Memory Box Project was created by the Wessex Heritage Trust and was initially based at Basingstoke hospital and at University Hospital Southampton has proven to be a useful tool for those who suffer with the condition.

Set up in 2016, the trust designed 24 sensory boxes around 12 different themes, containing original and replica items that come from social history collections in Hampshire museums, as well as private donations.

These boxes are designed to stimulate the three senses of smell, touch, and sound to trigger memories.

Now the project is set to be presented at a major international conference later this month in Melbourne, Australia.

Ian Smith, director of the Wessex Heritage Trust said: “We are absolutely delighted with this news and never expected anything like this when we started the project in 2016.

“I am equally proud that this project started in Basingstoke but I have to say without the support of the staff at the North Hants Hospital Trust we would not have achieved what we have to date and will do in the future.”

Funded by the Big Lottery, The Henry Smith Charity and the Linbury Trust, the project aims to increase the wellbeing and recovery times of patients with dementia.

At the conference the project will be presented to professionals involved in healthcare who are seeking the latest quality improvement and implementation of innovations projects from all over the world.

Mr Smith added: “This is an opportunity to share the Memory Box Project with a large international audience."

The Memory Box Project received Health and Care award at this year’s the Place to be Proud awards.