Memory Makers

21/04/2026

Meaningful work needs structure.

Some of the most meaningful things in life still need structure.
A good conversation needs space. A story-led project needs shape. A memory worth preserving needs the right moment, the right support and the right pace.

That is one of the reasons Memory Makers exists in the way it does.
Not just to say that stories matter, but to create a clear, thoughtful framework that helps those stories actually be captured well.

Because meaningful work should still feel manageable. Human, yes. Emotional, often. But also supported, realistic and possible.

If you're a care home or domiciliary provider, looking to support your clients in a new and meaningful way, please don't hesitate to reach out to either myself, Jenny Gordon, David Foulkes or any of the Memory Makers team

04/03/2026

On Sunday night, Founder Gareth Williams had the privilege of joining BBC Radio London with Dotun Adebayo to talk about something very simple:

What stories have been passed down in your family?

Not the headline moments.
Not the history books.
The real ones.
The ordinary ones.
The ones told around kitchen tables.

He spoke about Memory Makers and our mission to save a million memories, one conversation at a time.

Because here’s the truth:
Voices fade.
Moments pass.
And unless we pause and record them, they are simply lost.

In the interview, he talked about why history shouldn’t just belong to the “great and the good”. It belongs to people like Val in Crewe. It belongs to the gentleman who once spotted Paul McCartney and John Lennon in a Camden café and hadn't mentioned it for years until a song from the Beatles was played in one of our Memory Makers workshops. It belongs to your mum, your dad, and your grandparents.

These recordings aren’t just digital files.
They become heirlooms.

The tone of voice. The laugh. The pause before the emotional bit. The personality that never quite translates onto paper.

He also shared a personal story about losing his dad, a huge cricket fan. He and his brother later took his ashes to Australia during The Ashes, something he had always wanted to go and see but never got to do in his lifetime. That story lives strongly in their family. But not every story gets preserved like that.

And it’s easier than ever now.
Memory Makers isn’t just a platform.

It’s a promise. It's OUR promise:
No life should fade without being heard.

If you’re in care, healthcare, local government, community leadership - or simply someone who doesn’t want to lose the voice of someone you love - this mission is for you.

We can’t save a million lives.
But together, we can save a million memories.

(With thanks to BBC Radio London for the opportunity and permission to reference the interview.)

01/03/2026

This morning we’re heading down to Chichester ahead of our day tomorrow with Tangmere.

But before that, tonight we’re back on the radio, this time being interviewed by BBC Radio London.

We’ll be on just after 8pm if you’d like to listen in.

28/02/2026

Some of the wonderful team at Belong Crewe are taking on the Miners track of Yr Wyddfa in May to raise money for a dementia garden at the village. If you’re unable to donate, then please just share

Help Jessica Butler raise money to support Belong Limited

26/02/2026

What a morning!!

Founder Gareth Williams was featured throughout this morning on BBC Radio Stoke's Breakfast Show along with a wonderful interview with the amazing Val down at Belong Crewe.

You can listen again to the interview on BBC Sounds at 7.08am and here's the follow-up article from the BBC.

Gareth Williams is visiting care homes to help capture people's life stories in their own words.

24/02/2026

Great to be back at Belong Crewe helping to save memories with their residents

11/02/2026

We had such a lovely time yesterday running a Reminiscence workshop at Holy Trinity Community Café in Rhyl.

The attendees enjoyed talking about their past and reliving memories through sights, sounds and smells and had a great time testing out our app.

We're still looking to run a couple of FREE workshops over the next few weeks, so if you are in the North Wales or Cheshire area and work within a care/residential home, dementia or older people setting, we would love to hear from you.

A special thank you to the wonderful Paula Devlin who got in touch with us after seeing one of our posts on Facebook, thank you for taking the time to give us your thoughts on the workshop.

30/01/2026

We marked an important moment for Memory Makers yesterday.

Not with fanfare, but by doing the work the way it was always meant to be done, through conversation and connection.

Memory Makers has grown slowly and deliberately. It started with listening, with learning, and with a lot of quiet work behind the scenes. Yesterday brought that into the open in a way that felt honest and grounded.

I’m grateful to everyone who’s helped shape this, especially those who believed in it long before there was anything public to point to.

The story was picked up this morning by Nantwich Nub News, which captures the heart of what we’re trying to do and why it matters:

https://nantwich.nub.news/news/local-news/nantwich-dementia-group-debuts-new-nationwide-memory-making-initiative-286420

Now the real work begins. Who wants to help us save 1 million memories?

New nationwide storytelling initiative designed to help preserve people living with dementia's memories and voices has launched in Nantwich.

29/01/2026

Do you ever take a big breath right before something big happens?

Step out on to the stage, run a race, send your youngest child off to uni?

Nervous energy, flight or fight mode, whatever it is, we've all experienced it I'm sure.

Today marks a point where something that’s lived in the background for a long time starts to step forward. Gently, carefully, and in the way it always needed to.

No rush. No fanfare. Just the right amount of celebration.

And we can't wait to share it with you all.

15/01/2026

Hello everyone

I’m Gareth, and I live in Conwy, North Wales. My background is in commissioned storytelling work for organisations including the NHS, the BBC, and Avanti West Coast. That work grew out of running community storytelling sessions and took me into dementia-friendly groups, where what stood out wasn’t just poetry — it was the conversations that took place. The way a simple prompt or question could unlock memories, humour, and real connection within a group.

'Memory Makers' is what has grown directly from that experience. It captures memories through calm, guided conversation, helping people feel seen, heard, and remembered, while creating something families can hold onto. We’re now in our pilot phase, working with a small number of care homes and day centres across the UK to shape this properly in real settings. Feedback at this stage really matters.

As part of the pilot, we’re offering a limited number of free Shared Story Sessions — group-based, dementia-friendly reminiscence sessions, which will be used to help us develop the programme going forward.

This is ideally aimed at people connected to care settings — staff, volunteers, wellbeing leads, activity coordinators, or anyone who knows a group that would enjoy meaningful conversation. I’m also looking into the idea of holding an open story session locally, which would be aimed at members of the public who are not currently in a care group setting, should there be enough interest.

If that’s you (or someone you know), I’d love to hear from you and please also feel free to share this with as many people as you think it might be of interest to.