A DUNFERMLINE firm has helped secure £1.6 million for a charity that uses the power of music to trigger memories for dementia sufferers.

Thomson Cooper Accountants, based at Carnegie Campus, played a part in the National Lottery award for Playlist for Life, which was launched in Dunfermline in 2014 by writer and broadcaster Sally Magnusson.

Music as a therapeutic tool in the treatment of dementia is well established and the charity's vision is to give every sufferer access to a unique collection of their favourite and most meaningful songs.

This 'soundtrack of their life' can bring joy and spark memories, as well as help them reconnect with loved ones.

Fiona Haro, head of charities at the firm and treasurer with Playlist for Life, said: “We are very grateful for this generous award, knowing the tremendous impact it will have on our mission to improve the lives of people affected by dementia.

"Huge thanks go to those involved in the lottery application and the hundreds of volunteers throughout the UK who help reconnect families and their loved ones through the power of playlists."

Playlist for Life was set up by Sally Magnusson after she witnessed the way personal music helped her mother, Mamie, who had dementia.

After a pilot, she launched the charity in Dunfermline in April 2014 with the Carnegie Dunfermline Trust awarding a grant of more than £10,000 to help with the issue locally.

Sally said: “I founded Playlist for Life to share with other families something we had to discover by accident when caring for my mother: personal music helps dementia.

"My vision was that if every person with dementia has a unique personal playlist and everyone who loves or cares for them knows how to use it, then we can improve the way we connect and care for people living with this illness.”

Her experiences and reasons for starting the charity were described in her best-selling memoir, Where Memories Go: Why Dementia Changes Everything.

As part of the launch, the Dunfermline Rotary Club spearheaded a drive to collect old i-Pods and mp3 players with a dementia sufferer's personalised soundtrack then downloaded onto each device.

The charity teaches dementia sufferers, their family and carers how to create their unique collection of songs; there are currently 357 help points across the UK that can assist.

The money from the National Lottery Community Fund will help raise awareness of the benefits of playlists and part-fund the expansion of the help points network to 1,500 by October 2022.

To highlight the power of music to help people with dementia, Playlist for Life is promoting 'Musical teas' in communities in the run-up to Music Day on September 26. You can find out more at playlistforlife.org.uk.