Friday lunchtime CPD webinar: Reminiscence Cafés: Working with People Living with Dementia

Took place on Friday 23rd January 2026, 1.00pm-1.30pm

Speakers: Kate Bevan RMARA Cataloguing Team Leader, Historic England Archive and Gary Winter, Engagement and Content Officer, Historic England Archive

Over the past two years, staff from HE Archive’s Engagement and Projects Team have developed engagement and outreach work with groups of people living with dementia. Taking part in regular memory cafes with local groups has enabled us to engage with different people and use the images from our photographic collections to aid in reminiscence sessions. This talk will look at how we developed the ideas for these sessions, the training we undertook, and the content of the sessions. There’ll also be a chance to hear some feedback about the impact of this work, and what lessons we have learnt. We will also look at some of the issues we encountered when running memory café sessions, and how we have developed procedures to help with these to ensure that staff feel better equipped in working with people living with dementia. Please be aware that this part of the talk includes reference to dealing with inappropriate behaviour that may cause distress.