Byres Community Hub is now a Playlist for Life Help Point, offering support and resources to harness the powerful effects of personal music to help anyone affected by dementia, their families and carers.

Playlist for Life is a music and dementia charity founded in 2013 by writer and broadcaster Sally Magnusson after the death of her mother, Mamie, who had dementia. Their vision is simple: they want everyone with dementia to have a unique, personalised playlist and everyone who loves or cares for them to know how to use it.

Byres Hub hosts the Dementia Heroes west end café on the first Wednesday of every month (1-3pm). The cafes are organised by Arvind Salwan, and are for anyone living with dementia, carers, friends or family members supporting a loved one. People can get together for a cuppa and a chat, with support available from the Age Scotland Dementia Friendly Communities team, and in collaboration with Dementia UK, there is expert, tailored support from a dementia specialist Admiral Nurse.

Hub Engagement Lead Susan Grant has completed the Playlist for Life training and said: “We are delighted to be able to support people living with dementia and their families through our monthly cafes. We know that listening to music that is personally meaningful has lots of psychological benefits. Now that we are a Playlist for Life Help Point, we look forward to helping people and groups to create playlists that evoke special memories, and also to creating our very own Byres Hub playlist.”

Find out more - Playlist for Life

First published: 24 October 2025

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