Everton tour helps football fans with dementia to relive memories

Former Everton players Barry Horne and Franny Jeffers led the tour

Football fans with dementia have been given a tour of Everton football club ground as part of a scheme to help inspire memories through sport.

The tour, hosted by former Everton players Barry Horne and Franny Jeffers, is part of a national scheme.

Run by the Sporting Memories charity, such tours help people relive their memories of past sporting occasions.

"When they saw photographs of teams of the past - it was like turning a light on," volunteer James Costello said.

Les Crawford, who was touring the stadium with his wife who has dementia, said it had been something they had always wanted to do.

"Seeing photographs of the old team. It's all coming back to me now thinking back to when I was here with my mates," he said.

Mr Crawford, who used to live in Edge Hill, recalled how he would walk to Goodison Park.

"We'd walk here and we'd walk home and get a bag of chips and talk about the match," he said.

"All very happy memories."

 Elle Barnes-Reen, tours and events manager at Everton Football Club, said the tours are designed for people with dementia and people who support them.

"Football is such a massive part in so many people's lives, it can bring up conversations and that is a positive thing," she said.