Craven Voluntary Action has just been awarded £4,000 for a reminiscence project.

The charity wants to produce a special book, recording the memories of older residents of Craven.

"The idea for the project came about when we were trying to reach isolated rural people," said project co-ordinator Dee Politt.

"As our volunteer befrienders talked to elderly folk in the area, we realised that they shared a fascinating pool of local knowledge about people, places and traditions, which, unless preserved in some form, would gradually be lost forever."

School children and volunteers will visit residential homes to chat to elderly people about their memories.

"Children often get on particularly well with older folk, so are perfect interviewers. This benefits the reminiscers, by providing friendship and company and also the children as they get to know about how it was to be a Cravener in years gone by," added Dee.

Craven Museum will be assisting by making up boxes of genuine artefacts from the pre-war years which will help the children talk to older residents.

Reminiscence is a well-known technique within nursing.

Objects from patient's childhood and during the war can often bring back memories that help sufferers communicate with their helpers, and feel more at ease in their surroundings.

Threshfield Court Nursing Home is one of the residential homes in Craven which uses reminiscence to stimulate conversation between residents and also to help patients with Alzheimer's.

It is planning to create a reminiscence room with donations from visitors and old photographs. Student nurses at the home are currently undertaking a project to create reminiscence boxes for the use of residents.

The Craven Alzheimer's Society is also involved with a reminiscence project, with the help of a £2,000 grant from the Millennium Festival Awards for All scheme.

It is setting up a library of CDs and videos. Old music, news reels, and films are available as well as advice on how to use objects to assist in communication between patients and carers. The boxes can be loaned from the society.

Meanwhile, a reminiscence kitchen on ward 24 at Airedale General Hospital, Steeton, has just been completed.

It is full of objects from the last century which are being used to stimulate conversation between carers and dementia patients.

The small room holds a variety of postcards, kitchen equipment, household products, magazines, film posters and crockery from the years of the patients' lifetime.

Patients stay at least two weeks on the ward, which assesses patients for dementia, including Alzheimer's Disease.

Therapy support worker Susan Emmott, who set up the kitchen, explained: "It has a nice effect on patients. We can sit with a pot of tea, and talk to the patients which helps them settle down. Objects such as a doll or a postcard, lace or a sewing machine will trigger memories that enables them to build up a rapport with staff."

The staff also use food and smells to stimulate memories. It is also a working kitchen where patients can practise cooking skills which can be lost during a stay in hospital.