m4dRADIO, a free station made for people living with dementia, is now on DAB in South and West London. Residents at Drayton Village in West Drayton tuned in.
A free radio station made for people living with dementia has launched on DAB digital radio across South and West London. Drayton Village Care Centre in West Drayton was one of the stops on the tour to introduce it.
Music for Dementia brought its m4dRADIO van to the home, which is part of the Gold Care Homes group. Residents tuned in, requested songs and shared the memories attached to the music they chose.
What m4dRADIO is
The station plays music from the 1940s to the 1980s. According to Music for Dementia and Gold Care Homes, it offers:
- uninterrupted music 24 hours a day
- no adverts, no news and no presenters
- a separate channel for each decade from the 1940s to the 1980s
- a Mix channel
- listening online as well as on DAB in South and West London
It is free. The idea is to make familiar music easy to reach at home for people living with dementia, their families and carers.
Doris Day, then Cliff Richard
One of the residents who tried it was Penelope. She listened to music from the 1950s with her daughter, Ruth. The pair saw the van outside the home and decided to put the station on.
“We saw the van outside and decided to put the radio station on,” Ruth said. “We’ve been singing along to Doris Day and then Cliff Richard, who my mum actually saw in concert when she was a teenager.”
“We chose the 1950s option, and I think being able to pick an era and mix it up is a great idea. It’s fantastic for my mum and the other residents.”
“It isn’t about assuming everyone wants the same music”
Drayton Village provides dementia care alongside residential and nursing care. The home says knowing the music tied to a resident’s life is one more way of understanding the person it is caring for.
Laura Steward, Head of Dementia and Lifestyle at Gold Care Homes, said: “Music can be incredibly personal. A particular song might be connected to a relationship, a place, a celebration or simply a period of someone’s life that is important to them.”
“When we support someone living with dementia, getting to know those individual preferences is really important. It isn’t about assuming that everyone of a similar age wants to hear the same music. It’s about understanding the person and finding the music that means something to them.”
“Resources like m4dRADIO give our teams and families another simple way to explore that, whether music becomes part of a group activity, starts a conversation or is simply something a resident chooses to sit and enjoy.”
Matthew Bowden, Home Manager at Drayton Village Care Centre, said the visit showed why choice matters.
“One resident might want music from the 1950s, while someone else has completely different favourites,” he said. “Those preferences tell us something about the person, and they can give families and our team something to enjoy and talk about together. We’re looking forward to making the resource part of life here at Drayton Village.”
Amy Shackleton, chief executive of Music for Dementia, said: “We were delighted to team up with Gold Care Homes with our m4dRADIO DAB launch campaign. Their residents and staff gave us a great reception. It was particularly wonderful chatting to residents about their favourite songs.”
What it means for you
If someone in your family is living with dementia, at home or in a care home, m4dRADIO costs nothing to use. You can choose a single decade, as Ruth did for her mum, or the Mix channel. It is on DAB across South and West London and also streams online.
Music for Dementia campaigns for everyone living with dementia to have access to music that means something to them. Gold Care Homes, which runs Drayton Village, is based in Uxbridge.
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