Line of Duty star, Vicky McClure joins choir for dementia

Actress Vicky McClure is set to release documentary: Our Dementia Choir looking at the impact of music on people living with dementia.

After losing her beloved grandmother to dementia, Vicky McClure – best known for her appearances in Line of Duty and This is England – has joined a dementia choir in her upcoming documentary.

MUSIC

Our Dementia Choir follows the journey of 20 people living with a form of the condition. Ages include 31 to 87, and the documentary will focus on the power of music before the choir perform to an audience of 1,000 people.

The two-part documentary will see McClure and members of the choir’s performance at the Royal Concert Hall from September of last year.

Within the documentary, McClure also joined forces with the University of Nottingham and leading scientists in the UK to discover the emotional and physical effect of music on the brain. 

The BBC One documentary is set to be aired on Thursday 2 May 2019.

PERSONAL

Speaking with The Mirror, McClure revealed the personal and emotional story behind her fight to find a dementia cure. 

She said: “My Nonna inspired me to join the fight against dementia. She was very bold, bright, had a cracking sense of humour, a very dirty laugh. The dementia stripped all that. It leaves the shell of you.

“I saw how music helped her, changing her mood, calming her down, and for a while bringing us back to the old Nonna.”

FUNDING

Ahead of Our Dementia Choir’s release date, McClure has called on the government to do more in terms of funding for dementia research.

McClure was quoted as saying: “The government doesn’t put enough funding into research. I am passionate about looking into that. 

“I want to know what’s being done on that side of things.

“The funding is the hardest part, to have the choir running all the time, they’re not cheap. It’s free to sing, but to have that routine and providing tea and coffee and somewhere to do it, it costs money.”

McClure is also an ambassador for the Alzheimer’s Society, where she has continued to see the impact of music on people living with dementia. 

A parting quote from McClure: “One of my favourite quotes from one of my favourite artists, Bob Marley: ‘One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain.”

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