Care homes in Bradford, Bingley and Shipley will be taking part in Memory Share Week next month, hosting special events for local communities that focus on the importance of sharing memories and how capturing memories now can reap rewards for families in later life.

To help families capture those memories, Bupa has created a Map of Life tool which can be used to record significant life experiences, such as schooldays, jobs, holidays, interests and friends. The website at bupa.co.uk/ mapoflife also provides lots of ideas and advice for families on how to unlock memories.

Memory Share week from November 12-18 has been organised after a national survey revealed that most people don’t know enough about the important events in their parents’ early lives and what mattered most to them.

Although two thirds of people said they were able to name where their parents first met, only a third knew their father’s greatest achievement or the most memorable event in their mother’s childhood.

Similarly just less than a quarter could name their father’s best friend at school and only one in three had ever spoken to their mother about relationships she had had before their father came along. Three-quarters of the people surveyed admitted that they should know more.

The survey was commissioned by Bupa Care Homes to highlight the importance that reminiscence plays in older people’s lives and to encourage everyone to do more to share family memories.

Siobhan Drane, Bupa Care Homes’ community and partnerships manager, said: “We’d like to encourage everyone, young and old, to capture their memories.

“Especially in later life, reminiscence can provide people with a great deal of enjoyment and improve their wellbeing by making them feel good about themselves and their life experiences. If families find out now about the important milestones in their parents’ lives, it will help them to encourage reminiscence in later years.”

Bupa’s Memory Share Week is supported by Age Exchange, a charity that works with older people to improve their quality of life by valuing their reminiscences through dramas and documentaries.

Chief executive Craig Muir said: “We at Age Exchange know the value of reminiscence and sharing memories in bringing people together, getting them to understand and value each other more and generally make their lives better.

“I’m sure Bupa Care Homes’ Memory Share Week will create a buzz of excitement and enjoyment among people in their homes. We welcome and support this great idea.”