The Memory Box project in Basingstoke and Deane

In 2025 we celebrated 50 years of the borough of Basingstoke and Deane. As part of the celebrations the team at Love Basingstoke and the council undertook some projects. You may remember the Basingfolk project last February which saw us share stories from those that have lived in the borough for around 50 years. This was accompanied by panels around lampposts at the Top of the Town with snippets of their stories. A second project, The Memory Box Project which is detailed below, saw students chatting to care home residents to find out about their memories of the borough.

To find out more about the project we spoke to Kayte at The Memory Box Foundation. Read on to hear what she had to say.

Can you share what the project was about and what inspired the team to start it?

The Basingstoke Memory Box project started in 2025 as part of the 50th anniversary of the borough of Basingstoke and Deane. This was an intergenerational project that connected sixth form students with clients living in care homes or accessing day care services in Basingstoke through reminiscence sessions. From this, we collected the memories of older residents, which in turn, inspired the writing of poems by Kym Devine (Creative Connections) to share at a pop-up event during Basingstoke Festival. The end result included a display of the commissioned reminiscence boxes based on Basingstoke, a telephone listening station where you could hear the participants tell their stories and see a display of images and poetry.

How were students prepared to engage with older residents in care homes and what did they feel they got from the experience?

I provided four workshops for Health and Social Care students from Queen Mary’s College over the course of one day. In total 41 students, three care homes and one day care centre were involved in the project. 
The students learned about ageing and the effects of physical and cognitive decline; experienced activities that elicited empathy for our client group; developed their communication skills and learned how to facilitate a reminiscence session. 

Students then ran reminiscence sessions at the care settings over a number of weeks. This gave them the opportunity to practise the skills that they had learned and gain confidence in using their communication skills working with empathy for the issues these people live with on a daily basis.

What kinds of items and photos were used to spark memories?

Five small reminiscence boxes were commissioned and collated for this project on the following themes:
Shopping, Work, High Days and Holidays, Entertainment and Leisure, and Landmarks in Life.

Each box consisted of a variety of objects, photographs, postcards, documents and information cards. Whilst some items were generic that everyone could relate to, other items were specifically Basingstoke related. For example, in the Work box, there was a traditional AA car badge and diecast AA van model, but also images of Fanum House, The AA HQ and an information card that explained the history of The AA.

Were there any particularly memorable or surprising stories shared during the sessions?

Students were surprised that our elderly participants had known how to live life to the full. For example, memories of going dancing at Oakley village hall, where you could only buy a cup of tea or soft drink, were dearly cherished. One gentleman recalled meeting his wife at one of these dances, and they danced their way through a very long marriage. Other people recalled the fun of the annual carnival. Throwing coins at the floats for charity was a common topic, often followed by mutterings of ‘couldn’t do that today!’ One lady told us about the homemade costumes, including some made of papier mache, for which they hoped it wouldn’t rain on the day. And the loan of lorries from local companies which were decorated for the procession.

How were the memories transformed into poetry?

Kym Devine of Creative Connections joined some of the reminiscence sessions to collect ideas and lead brainstorming sessions. Some sessions were recorded and phrases and words picked out from them.

Are there plans to continue or expand the project in the future?

A repeat of the work with students is happening in 2026. Two cohorts of health and social care students from Queen Mary's College are currently engaged in training and rolling out a reminiscence programme with four care settings – two from 2025 and two new settings. 

The Memory Box Foundation has also been approached by a local employer who is keen to work with us in a voluntary capacity providing ‘work hours’ for employees to facilitate sessions in a wider group of settings. 

Our thanks to Kayte for speaking to us. You can find out more about the Memory Box Foundation here.

March 2026