Groups for people living with dementia
Writing groups for people living with dementia
People with dementia suffer when they feel socially isolated and disconnected. I have seen how writing groups can lift mood, improve wellbeing and bring joy, satisfaction, pride and purpose to people with all types and stages of dementia…
“Liz has an uncanny knack for connecting with people and then knowing just how to teach and guide them to express and create more than they or others thought possible.” – Dr. Elizabeth Field, Senior Clinical Psychologist, KMPT NHS trust
Time and Place Lockdown Poetry Group
Lockdown could have been the end of Time and Place, but we went online (via this website) and the result was social connection, new forms of poetic expression explored and great joy all round.
But don’t just take my word for it!
“I found myself almost immediately caught up by the warmth, encouragement and positivity of the group. I felt instantly welcomed, valued and definitely included.” – Irene
“Helped me to slowly build up my confidence that had almost completely been eroded by my Dementia diagnosis and the response of individuals and, indeed, society to it. It allowed me an opportunity to reuse my literacy skills that had been put in hibernation for quite some time. It renewed my faith in mankind reminding me that kindness and generosity was still plentiful and so freely offered to me. It gave me the strength I needed to get back out there in the world and be proud of who I am. And it illustrated to me that people living with Dementia still had the right to be happy and to engage in development and to celebrate all we do! – Irene
“What a great exercise for people to get their brains working, and we all need to keep our brains working, especially those who have dementia… It gave me a purpose: something to look forward to. A truly inspirational way of expressing the way you feel which also helps with your wellbeing.” – Gail
“It has been difficult to write poems after my wife’s death, but Liz awakened my love for poems and got me to start writing again. When I’m low, I just start writing about different things, and they just seem to rhyme and mean things to me, just like my favourite poet Wilfred Owen. It has helped me tremendously.” – Melvyn
To book me to run a Time and Place poetry course for your group in your setting, contact me here
Contact me to discuss funding options here
A book of the collected works by your group can be put together by me and distributed to each participant as a keepsake if desired.
Dreams and Visions
This project enabled people with dementia to draw on their deep well of life experience to create something new: their own short film script.
I designed this course in partnership with Keith Oliver, Kent’s Dementia Envoy. We put together a team of reflective, friendly volunteers, a film maker, drama practitioner, theatre director and a psychologist.
Over the course of ten weeks I took people through the process of assembling stories through different means – visual inspiration, life experience and world events. Film maker, Al Reffell and drama practitioner, Rhiannon Lane ran workshops to share their passion and understanding of film and dramatic technique, and Paul Ainsworth from Canterbury’s Marlowe theatre joined participants in co-directing their work for a staged performance at the end of the course.
Funded by the National Lottery and Friends for Mental Health (East Kent).
What participants said about Dreams and Visions…
“The course is making me feel more involved again. It’s making me feel that doors are opening.” – Celia
“This story that I’ve written has become really powerful to me. And I’m so glad because it’s helped my concentration levels. My concentration levels were so poor with this onset dementia, but this has given me something to think about, something I want to do, something that’s sticking in my mind. And I didn’t realise that I’d be able to do this!” – John
“This has been quite amazing. I never ever thought that I would be able to write a story, let alone a script! …It’s just amazing what you can do if you put your mind to it. With support, you can do anything, really!” – Carol
“It’s lovely the way it’s organised with a scribe because it takes away the problem of being able to write and think at the same time which is quite hard. Liz is lovely and you can understand what she says which is helpful! She lets you go at your own speed.” – Tracey
“I’m reaching my goal of what I want to do. I’m enjoying the challenge. It’s making my brain work, which is really good because I need to keep myself occupied, I need to keep my brain motivated, and this is why I’m glad I came.” – John
“It’s done me a lot of good. It’s pleased me to feel I can do this.” – Carol
“I come away from the sessions stimulated. It’s good for you. With my dementia, I go to other meetings and I can feel patronised and treated as if I’m 300 years old and gaga, but this stimulates me.” – David
Dreams & Visions Video
Dreams and Visions from al reffell on Vimeo.
Dementia Friendly Film Club
I owe so much to the films I’ve loved. Keith Oliver felt the same way, so together we organised and facilitated this group of six sessions, for people with and without dementia to come together and enjoy a modern film followed by a guided discussion group.
Participants voted on films to watch, and the favourite of all six (as generally agreed!) was Mao’s Last Dancer. A modern film with substantial portions in subtitles, it’s probably not the first choice of many when thinking ‘dementia-friendly’, and is certainly a million miles away from Singin’ In The Rain.
This group proved again that we should never stop pushing boundaries, and we should never assume what people with dementia are or are not capable of enjoying, creating and contributing to.
Welcome To Our World
Welcome to our World is a collection of life writing which grew out of a group I ran in partnership with Keith Oliver, Kent’s Dementia Envoy, in 2014. The book holds stories from the lives of eight people from East Kent, with tales of life’s weird and wonderful moments, its joys and pains, tragedy and comedy. The book is sold through the Alzheimer’s Society, and all proceeds from any sales go to raise funds for them.
Each writer has a diagnosis of dementia.
Join them, as they welcome you into their world and share some of the stories of their lives with honesty, humour and warmth.
“I take my hat off to all of the contributors to this book. It’s touching and funny… and why not use humour in what many perceive to be the darkest of situations?”
Jo Brand, comedian, writer and presenter
My journey into this area of experience
I began writing with people with dementia without realising.
It started with a creative writing workshop at my parents’ church, where they run a summer activity club for older people. I enjoyed it so much, that when my youngest child started pre-school, I volunteered at Age UK in Canterbury to run another group. Everyone in that group had dementia: I didn’t realise it at the time, and I’m thankful that I didn’t. It prevented me from any sort of prejudice as to what participants were and were not capable of.
A friend, Dr. Elizabeth Field, who knew I’d been volunteering, is a psychologist working with people with dementia. She was involved in running a group called the Forget Me Nots, where people with dementia come together to advocate on behalf of others with a diagnosis, to see improvements to the law and society as a whole.
Keith Oliver was a part of this group, and had expressed a desire to try life writing with people with dementia. Elizabeth introduced us, and we met in a local café. We hit it off immediately, and began an exciting journey together.
Since that first group, Keith and I have gone on to co-design other groups and meetings. We’ve been to the National Dementia Congress twice to speak about some of the groups we’ve run, we’ve given training sessions to students volunteering with people with dementia, and we’ve delivered training to the British Film Institute staff on London’s South Bank. Along with others, I’ve supported Keith through the publication of two further books, and have been continually impressed by his determination and diligence in pursuing living well, whatever life throws at you.
I’ve also run various sessions for Bright Shadow, a Kent-based organisation working to unite local artists with people with dementia to create new expressions of artistic and cultural value.
Along the way, I’ve learned a tremendous amount about working not only with people with dementia, but also with volunteers of all ages and walks of life, as well as other arts professionals and community organisations. I have seen people blossom, both with and without dementia, and have witnessed again and again the power of the written word to lift and connect people.
Contact Me
Book my writing services to work with your community, faith-based or dementia group.
Sharing our writing journeys…