VINTAGE and collectors items are set to be donated to Black Country dementia sufferers to help trigger “uplifting” early memories.

As part of this month’s first ever Stourbridge Vintage Memorabilia and Collectors Fair, a selection of the items donated to the event, being held on Sunday, April 30, in aid of Alzheimer’s Society, will be put into ‘Memorabilia Boxes’.

The boxes will then be used during talks and to stimulate discussion at dementia café groups in Stourbridge, Brierley Hill, Dudley and Sedgley.

Donated items from the 1950s to 1970s could include cigarette cards, coins, football programmes, newspapers, photographs, tobacco items and vinyl records.

Jane Round, dementia café co-ordinator for the Alzheimer’s Society, said: “Selling vintage memorabilia and collectibles in order to raise funds for the Alzheimer’s Society is a wonderfully innovative idea.

“People living with dementia often find that the memories of their childhood and early teenage years stay intact, whereas more recent memories are much harder to recall.

“The fact that a selection of the items donated to the Stourbridge Vintage Memorabilia and Collectors Fair will be put into ‘Memorabilia Boxes’ and used in our dementia café groups is a wonderful bonus.

“They will trigger early memories that can be very uplifting and therapeutic for the members of the groups.”

The first dementia café meeting organised the Alzheimer’s Society which included the memorabilia boxes took place at the Nine Locks Community Centre, in Brierley Hill, on Monday (April 10).

Specialist dealers will also be travelling from all over the country to participate in the Stourbridge Vintage Memorabilia and Collectors Fair at the historic Bonded Warehouse.

All profits from the fair will go to the Alzheimer’s Society to support services, research and campaigning across the Black Country.