A MUSICIAN who once worked with stars like Bob Geldof and Van Morrison and recently orchestrated a new way of understanding people with dementia has struck gold in a major care industry award.
Cheryl Beer, 50, started her show business career at the age of five as an extra in a London Palladium pantomime starring Ronnie Corbett 45 years ago and went on to become a singer-songwriter appearing with some of the biggest musical stars of the 1970s and 1980s.
For the past 30 years Cheryl, who lives near Carmarthen, has been a freelance musician and storyteller and it was while working with dementia sufferers at residential homes in Llanelli that she pioneered a new way of telling their stories which has now become as an international model for the way it can be done.
It is this achievement that has landed Cheryl a gold honour in the 2015 Wales Care Awards.
This is the 13th anniversary of the awards and at the glittering presentation ceremony in Cardiff City Hall, she was presented with the top honour in the Excellence in Dementia Care category, sponsored by FISC Healthcare.
The awards are in association with Care Forum Wales, a not-for-profit organisation set up in 1993 to give independent care providers a single professional voice with which to speak on one of the most important issues of our time – how to provide better quality care for those who need it most.
From her debut stage appearance in Cinderella alongside Ronnie Corbett, Cheryl chose a career as a professional singer-songwriter, often opening shows for big names rockers like Bob Geldof, Van Morrison and Lonnie Donnegan.
She also made a number of her own records in the urban roots music style.
About 30 years ago, she became a freelance musician and storyteller and in the summer and autumn of last year was asked to use her talents in an arts project led by Arts Care – Gofal Celf aimed at improving people’s quality of life in the Gwalia Group’s dementia nursing home in Tumble, Llanelli.
An important part of the programme was the input of children from three local primary schools.
The whole successful programme led to a spin-off project with one of the residents with dementia, 91-year-old Louie Davies.
A celebration of her life, it used her carefully preserved childhood mementoes, toys, cards and postcards to illustrate her recollections of growing up in rural West Wales in the 1920’s and 1930’s and of events like cockle picking in Llanstephan and visiting Lammas fair in Carmarthen with her father in a pony and trap.
The memory project completed with the help of Cheryl resulted in Postcards from Louie, a series of simple which were recorded as a CD and a talking book, the cover of which was a reproduction of Louie’s 21st birthday card from her father 70 years ago.
Cheryl went on to guide similar projects with another elderly person with dementia, Betty Williams, which produced a CD called Singing with Betty and Friends about her earlier work with choirs that has been made available to residential homes across Wales.
A third similar project for Cheryl working with a dementia sufferer was a book of memories produced with Welsh strongman George Davies – who had been known in his day as Davie Muscles.
Three hundred copies were produced and used as an anti-bullying message for children and vulnerable adults in Wales and even as far away as Scotland.
Cheryl has since produced a report on the model she used for working on all these projects which has been published internationally online by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
She said: “To win the gold award was a very humbling and precious feeling.
“You just do your best and give your all to your job.
“Being at the awards ceremony gave me an overwhelming sense of connecting with humanity because you don’t often see so many people from the care industry gathered together in one place to celebrate each other’s work.”
She added: “I feel very blessed to have been able to work with people who have dementia.
“They are teaching us the way forward when it comes to giving them a better life.”
Mario Kreft, the Chair of Care Forum Wales, said: “There are only winners here tonight so it is only fitting that the finalists will receive a gold, silver or bronze Wales Care Award.
“I trust that they will continue to inspire those around them as role models and encourage others to aspire to even greater heights in the months and years to come.
“This awards ceremony is our opportunity to pay tribute and to celebrate the talent and commitment that is improving the quality of life for thousands and thousands of people throughout Wales.
“We take our hats off to them.”
Help keep news FREE for our readers
Supporting your local community newspaper/online news outlet is crucial now more than ever. If you believe in independent journalism, then consider making a valuable contribution by making a one-time or monthly donation. We operate in rural areas where providing unbiased news can be challenging. Read More About Supporting The West Wales Chronicle
