A new website has been launched to provide information on why music is essential for people living with dementia and their carers.

Music for Dementia 2020 is the first site to demonstrate the importance of music for people with dementia. It is a central information hub providing advice, evidence-based research and expertise on why music enhances quality of life.

Grace Meadows, Music for Dementia 2020’s programme director, said: “For someone living with dementia, music can be the lifeline, the connector that stops them from being locked away in a lonely and isolated world. Music, in its many forms; recorded, live, particpatory, interactive, therapy, has the power to transform lives.

“There is some excellent work happening across the country; in people’s homes, the community, care settings, hospitals and hospices. However, this is not happening everywhere across the UK.

“This website is the major first step in helping to ensure that everyone living with dementia has access to the music that matters to them.”

There are currently 850,000 people currently living with dementia in the UK with as many as 320,000 people in residential settings who don’t have access to meaningful arts provision.

The Music for Dementia 2020 campaign aims to change this by supporting those with dementia, and their carers, to have access to musical activities.