Stay positive
Real-life positive stories
It can be difficult to find positive stories about dementia to read. So we have curated a selection of them for you right here!
All of these stories are from Our DEEP News, the monthly newsletter of the DEEP network. The full newsletters are all online and also come with audio recordings if you would prefer to listen to them.
We have organised these real-life positive stories into the five themes of the toolkit.
Stay safe and well
Tips for people with sensitivity to noise
Prepare your ears
Practice being in noise:
- Television or music on
- Play background sounds on YouTube
Do something relaxing while you learn to ignore these.
Avoid using ear defenders.
Use your hearing aids daily.
Learn breathing techniques
Use calming breaths when anxious.
Smell helps too – try a handkerchief with a favourite calming scent.
Prepare a phrase and practice it
“I’ve got sensitive ears – please can you turn the music down”
Choose your own phrase, and practice saying it.
You can write it on a card to show people too.
Tackle anxious thoughts
Practice controlling negative thoughts.
What would you say to a friend who was anxious?
Write it down for yourself to read.
Position yourself in the best place
Having your back to the wall reduces noise behind.
Choose places with good acoustics.
Soft furnishings, such as curtains and cushions help.
Use a trusted buddy
Tell them what is worrying you.
Practice together.
They can help when
you are anxious.
Start easy
Choose a familiar quiet place to start.
Take regular breaks.
Feel good about the time that you stay.
Make a plan
Then use your plan to learn from.
What worked?
What will you do differently next time?
Thanks to Sarah Bant (Clinical Scientist in Audiology), Vicky Sadler, (Hearing Therapist), Karen Shearsmith-Farthing (Occupational Therapist) and Kathryn Fackrell (Researcher), with the help of people living with dementia who have noise sensitivity themselves.
Stay connected
Friends for Life – Ey-Up Mi Duck in Nottingham – Write a letter
Are you feeling a little bored because of this virus, like me and Cynth? Well let’s do something about it!
Will you all write a letter (not email or text) yes, a real letter to me and Cynth about one of the following or something else you would like to tell us. I know you have the time to spare, and it will only cost you a second-class stamp, so get going.
Possible Subjects:
- The best holiday you ever had, where, why, when, with who, etc.
- The silliest joke, you can share
- What went wrong this month
- What are you celebrating this year
- What sport do you miss, or the TV programs no longer on
- Who was your favourite singer / singers and their best song
- Who was or is your favourite actors and films and why
- Which School did you hate the most Junior OR Senior OR Uni / College (Further Ed.)
- Your favourite lessons at School, your worse
- Most favourite place in U.K. Or the World; why
- What do you like about our group
- What would you like to be included in your meetings.
I await your replies with great interest. This is the way we used to communicate with each other. Give it a go, please. We are missing you all.
If you would like to send a letter to Steve and Cynth please write to PO Box 616, Exeter EX1 9JB and we will forward it on to them. Steve may double up as Father Christmas too if we are lucky!
Follow Together Dementia Support on Facebook who facilitate Fabulous Forgetful Friends
For VE Day the fabulous team delivered cream teas to the people they support! They created a short film which you can see on their Facebook page or on their page on the DEEP website.
Together Dementia Support and Fabulous Friends baking together on Zoom.
Roy sets new benchmark
Roy Sager is a member of the Buddies group. In March, his daughter suggested that he take his beloved bench and place it at the front of the garden overlooking the road. What started off as a casual wave here and there turned into a daily occupation, with people honking their horns, runners passing by clapping and neighbours shouting out encouragement. Roy says he feels very fortunate to have so much love and support, but he knows a lot of people don’t have that. He thinks we all should be encouraged to wave, smile, and talk to each other.
Roy says “My attitude is to try and be cheerful”
Keep a sense of purpose
Update from Up & Go in Leeds
Nicky Taylor, one of the Up & Go facilitators, writes:
Up & Go had a positive meeting again this week and discussed some the challenges we face. We are still meeting online and will be for the foreseeable future. Many of our group have been shielding and are very careful about re-joining the world. The Leeds Playhouse, where we meet, is still closed, but are making plans about reopening. We will be encouraging the meeting of small-scale groups of less vulnerable people first. Here are some photos from our very creative gang’s artwork. We have Warren’s beautiful paintings - he does paint by numbers and they are over and above anything I’ve previously seen of this method! We also have Lyn who has been knitting amazing NHS workers for a display at Lotherton Hall in Leeds. The hall has connections to Florence Nightingale and it’s 200 years since her birth, so they are celebrating her and our amazing NHS. Finally, we have Rosa’s wonderful poetry.
Warren’s paintings
Lyn’s knitted NHS workers
Hope by Rosa
Sitting with Bobo by my side
Looking out of the window
Watching trees gently swaying in the breeze
Squirrels running up and down the trees
White clouds floating in the sky
An angel in the sky
Everything is going to be alright now.
Life by Rosa
Why, oh, why, do I feel like this?
Sometimes the tunnel is long and dark
Another day it’s so bright
Wish everyday could be like this
Memories come and go
But memories of years ago are remembered
Sometimes cannot remember what happened a few minutes ago
Sleep is on and off like a switch
Loud noises not allowed
Going out can be scary
Not knowing which way to go
Twisting and turning this way and that
But we do get there in the end.
DEEP thred prove it is never too late to be a pop star!
Paul and Tommy (DEEP thred, Liverpool) are releasing an EP. This is of three songs that they have composed and recorded:
Tommy writes:
‘The Same Man’ tells the story that everyone of us living with dementia feels, even though we’ve got dementia, we are all still the same person. Dementia doesn’t change the person you are, dementia changes the way you behave.
‘Climbing Mountains’ is a coloration with our good friend Ronald Amanze who recites his beautiful poetry in the song. The haunting true words that reverb throughout this song brings home to the listener exactly what people living with dementia feel, and how we feel that people treat us. It tells the story of a person’s strong resolve even though they are skating on thin ice that they will not go under. Ron’s spoken poem in the song really hits home that our voices are not heard because people don’t listen.
‘Hope for 21’ is an ironic song given the year that we’ve just been through with the Covid pandemic and lockdown. 2020 is a year that everyone lost a year of their lives and sadly in most cases someone they knew. This song is about the Hope that we have for everyone, that life will get back to normal. It also sends a message to dementia, the lost and found, that there is Hope for 21.
The EP of songs will be released on social media @thredCiC on Wednesday 21 April 2021 at 8pm. DEEP thred will be on the twitter chat straight after the launch to answer any questions that you have.
Big DEEP blanket
Our friend David has been busy with his wonderfully colourful big DEEP blanket squares.
Let’s Be Heard proudly launch their Art exhibition in Oldham
Stay active
Still Me RCT
Are carrying on their creative activities by posting equipment and putting instructional videos online.
They are connecting with members with links for activities and video calls.
They are also thinking of creative ways to use their recycling. There’s an example here of growing seed in juice containers.
A summer of DEEP sunflowers
We have had some flops and non-starters. They’ve been eaten by the dog or swept away in a storm. We’ve had some small beauties suitable for bouquets.
The seeds and powers of ‘wishful tall sunflower thinking’ have stretched the length and breadth of the UK. It’s been great planting seeds of hope and joy with you all.
At Budding Friends in Exeter...
...a dog is definitely a best friend
whilst others are certainly hard at work!
A swan is often thought to be calm and graceful. What is hidden from the eye is the frenetic activity going on under the surface.
Dementia Actif Gwynedd have produced a very special performance of Swan Lake.
Even the famous ballet choreographer, Sir Matthew Bourne, said that he thought it “beautiful and so moving” ! Filmed on the Welsh coast and in people’s homes, we see the most stunning movements of grace, gentleness, and emotion. The final moment is a dedication - ‘In loving memory of the friends we have lost’. You can see the film on the DEEP website on the latest news page. DEEP congratulations to all at Dementia Actif for your vision and achievement.
So the wait is over – 8th July
‘The Big DEEP Blanket Reveal’
Back in March 2020, we all became cocooned in our homes due to Coronavirus raging across the world. Living with dementia brings many challenges and being disconnected from our friends, also living with dementia (who really understand), made it so much harder. Together Dementia Support and our Fabulous Forgetful Friends were already keen knitters, and when we heard about the blanket project led by DEEP, we couldn’t resist getting stuck in with gusto!
During the first phase, volunteers and staff became ‘Knitting Connectors’. They delivered wool and needles to people’s homes, had phone conversations, formed friendships to keep people connected through this shared joy of creation. One member, Helen, even knitted lovely teddies to send to her fellow knitters, and even responded to a plea from the Littlest Wildlife Hotel in Cornwall for knitted beds for baby birds and hedgehogs.
As restrictions eased slightly in Greater Manchester, we decided to get together and do a ‘Sewing it all Together Project’. For 6 weeks we met outdoors over tea and cake, happily sewing our squares together and reconnecting.
At our weekly facilitators zoom with DEEP, we chatted about the unfinished blanket and Rachel asked our help to drive it forward across the UK. The response came from far and wide, with DEEP members as far as Scotland, Wales, and all over England pitching in! Lots of emails, needles, and wool were posted out. Beautiful cards, letters, videos and squares came back with so much love and support! This was clearly a project that united people and brought them together. Finally, as restrictions started to ease, and with a glimmer of Hope (and she is a good knitter!), we finished. Phew! Over cream teas, DEEP members across the country united in one big blanket at our ‘Big Reveal’ event on the 8 July 2021 in Manchester.
Now, what to do with it? The blanket, as one big piece, is quite a sight to behold. We are now unpicking it and making small, useful lap blankets made with love. Our Fabulous Forgetful Friends members felt that our sections will go to our former members who have gone into care, as a symbol that we still care and miss them at our groups.
If you would like a lap blanket from the Big DEEP Blanket, please get in touch with us by email . Let us know what you plan to do with it, and we’ll let you know if we’ve got any we can send. Thank you to all who took part!
Now to rest our fingers!
Dementia Actif exercising and a pebble painting by the DEEP blue sea
Stay positive
"Colour can speak to the soul in a thousand different ways," Oscar Wilde
Meet the very colourful soul, David, reading his copy of Our DEEP News. The picture is full of joyful colour (and hopefully David is enjoying the read too!).
We continue to gather together the colourful DEEP blanket squares you have been busy creating too.
As we slip into the Autumn, the days get shorter but there are truly wonderous colours to see. The oranges, reds, and browns of turning leaves and the beauty of the cyclamens popping their heads out with a “hello don’t forget me!” There is a challenge to keeping colour in our lives as days become grey. Colour says so much about us and it can feed our mood. Wear a bright scarf or plant your bulbs and enjoy them as they sprout with the green of new life.
What do you do to keep colour in your life? You might want to try something new with Craftivism and unleash that artist in you in the safe hands of Frances.
How could we improve this page? Visit the Contact us page to let us know.
Real-life positive stories
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