Dementia Friendly Folk Concert Reunites Teacher and Pupil
Broadstairs Folk Week is one of the town’s best-loved traditions, filling the streets every August with music, dancing and visitors from across the country. It is a festival built on community and welcome, and this year, that spirit reached further still. Chartwell House Care Home partnered with Folk Week 2026 to bring a dementia-friendly ceilidh to the official programme for the fourth year, giving people living with dementia the chance to experience the joy, connection and atmosphere of the festival in a setting designed to be warm, welcoming and accessible.
On Wednesday 12 August, that partnership came to life at the Sarah Thorne Theatre in Broadstairs. Live folk act Krista and the Wood Urchins took to the stage, and the room filled with residents, families and friends, all there to share in the music, dancing and community spirit that make Folk Week such a highlight of the local calendar. There was singing, tapping feet and plenty of conversation, the theatre alive with exactly the kind of shared, sociable atmosphere that Folk Week has built its reputation on.
This is not a one-off idea for Chartwell House. The home’s Folk Week celebration previously won Dementia Friendly Community Project of the Year 2025, recognition of a deliberate, ongoing commitment to making sure residents can keep taking part in the events and traditions that matter to their local community, not just watch them from a distance.
Among those enjoying the afternoon was Roger Fielder, a Chartwell House resident and keen Morris dancer, who came along with his son. Jaye Hurst, Admissions Manager at Chartwell House, watched the pair settle in together as the music played. “I am absolutely thrilled with how successful the afternoon was, but for me, the most special part was seeing one of our residents there with his son, completely immersed in the music and having such a wonderful time. He is a keen Morris dancer, so being able to enjoy Folk Week in this way was incredibly meaningful to him.”
Then came a moment nobody in the room saw coming. Krista, the band’s lead singer, recognised Roger. He had taught Biology at a local college for almost 30 years, and years earlier, she had been his pupil. Now, she was standing on stage, performing for her former teacher. “Then we discovered something that none of us had expected: Krista, the lead singer, had actually been taught by him. Years ago he was her teacher, and now she was standing on stage performing for him. It was incredibly touching and there were certainly a few tears around the room. Seeing him enjoy that experience alongside his son was particularly special,” said Jaye.
For Taryn, Head of Lifestyle and Wellbeing at Chartwell House, the moment captured exactly why this work matters. “It was so much more than an afternoon of entertainment; it was about giving him the opportunity to enjoy something he loves, to be part of his community and, completely unexpectedly, to reconnect with someone from his past. That is exactly why events like this matter. Dementia should never mean that someone has to stop enjoying the things they love or being part of their community. Music, culture and shared experiences can create enormous joy and can bring memories and relationships to the surface in the most unexpected ways.”
At Chartwell House, afternoons like this are simply what good care looks like: residents dancing, singing and reconnecting with the community and culture they have always loved. That is the standard the team sets for itself every day, and it is why Boutique Care Homes’ ethos, care so good, it’s unexpected, is one the home lives up to rather than just states.
