The Ness Shed – our latest dementia therapy service

As a business that is constantly looking for innovative ways to improve their dementia therapy service offerings, after much research, we decided to launch The Ness Shed. A new, short class that works with people living with the disease, at all levels. Read this article to learn more about The Ness Shed and how you can get a free trial for your loved one.

What is The Ness Shed?

Based within our main dementia centre in Teignmouth, The Ness Shed is a small drop-in service that offers individuals living with dementia a chance to take part in practical and manual classes. Activities will include woodwork and pottery which will resonate most with their own backgrounds or interests.

In some cases, individuals will already have some dementia care in place, which may be at a dedicated dementia care home, or through a home enablement service. Where this is the case, our Ness Shed will allow carers to get them involved in different activities that may not currently be available in their weekly schedule.

What will the classes involve?

• Pottery therapy – research shows that pottery and art therapy can have huge benefits on those living with dementia. It improves self-esteem, reduces the chances of depression and can reduce anxiety. The therapeutic activity of clay modelling can also reduce memory problems whilst triggering past thoughts and memories, allowing individuals to express their feelings better.
• Woodwork – our Ness Shed derived from the popular idea of The Men’s Shed, which encourages improved physical and mental health in men living with the disease. Due to the social aspect of the session, it also reduces loneliness and improves interaction.

Benefits of The Ness Shed

• Improved confidence – with a maximum of 6 people per class, individuals can comfortably mix with others in an intimate environment.
• A sense of achievement – in all our classes, individuals will be using their creative flair to make something unique, which they’ll be able to take away with them.

Plus, if you are a care home referring individuals to our Ness Shed, you will benefit from improved CQC ratings due to the extra effort you are putting in to improve the quality of life for those living with dementia.

FAQs about The Ness Shed

How many classes will be available each week?

We are currently planning to run 1-2 classes per week, but may add more as popularity increases.

How long will classes last?

Whilst we have only recently launched the dementia therapy service, we are currently running the sessions for 1.5 – 2 hours. We feel this is a suitable length to time for individuals to hold their concentration and benefit the most from the class.

Can you offer a pick-up/drop-off service to and from The Ness Shed?

Depending on your location, we may be able to offer a pick-up service using our minibus. However, this will depend on the availability and will have to be discussed prior to the class.

Do I have to commit to attending every week?

No, the great things about The Ness Shed is that you can attend as many or as little times as you’d like. Obviously, having a structure is important when living with dementia, but you will not be tied down to paying for a membership or set amount of classes.

Who will run the sessions?

Depending on the class for that day, we will be using care professionals to run the sessions. This may include a professional potter for our pottery therapy classes or teachers who work within our main centre that have experience of individuals with dementia.

Will the dementia therapy classes be the same each week?

No, we will be switching up the class timetable regularly, and once we have been running sessions for a while we will be able to establish what the most popular sessions are and adjust our timetable accordingly.

Can you run a private session for residents living in a care home?

Yes, this can be arranged, we ideally will not have more than 6 people per class so that each member receives the right amount of attention. Get in touch with our team if you would like to arrange a private session.

Get a free trial for our latest dementia therapy service

We are offering all new members a free trial for a Ness Shed class, get in touch with our team by calling us on 01626 774 799 or email [email protected].

If you are looking for additional dementia day care in Devon, you can also receive a free trial session at The Ness Dementia Centre. Learn more here >>

Keep up to date with everything that’s going on at our centres by following our Facebook page, or having a read of our other blog posts.

We look forward to welcoming you to The Ness Shed.