Forget me nots
Forget-Me-Nots (FMNs) are a group of people with different diagnoses of dementia who are not willing to sit back and let life pass them by.
- They are a group of about 10 people living with a diagnosis of a dementia, several professionals from Kent and Medway Partnership Trust, and other supporters such as placement students, volunteers and visitors.
- The Forget Me Nots aim to raise awareness of dementia and change the stigma that so often surrounds a diagnosis of dementia, and they do this by taking part in local and national teaching, training, conferences, consultations, research, and campaigns.
- The group is a place to meet like-minded people where you can keep up to date with what’s happening with dementia and meet others who are sharing the experience.
- The Forget Me Nots operate on the belief that every person living with dementia has something to contribute towards making the world more dementia-friendly and they have the right to have their views heard.
- The Forget Me Nots are active members of the Dementia Engagement and Empowerment Project (DEEP) and seek to engage nationally with other groups of interested people.
Other Forget-Me-Not Aims:
- Promoting a wide range of voices of people living with dementia to counter the stigma and stereotypes surrounding dementia
- Contributing to the development and delivery of good-quality services for people with dementia including health, social care, the voluntary sector and community services such as theatres, cinemas, banks and newsagents
- Sharing challenges and useful strategies relating to living well with dementia
- Providing consultation and contribution to local and national projects and research.
If you are living with dementia and want to get involved
We meet monthly in Thanington just outside of Canterbury and welcome new members with dementia. If you are interested in attending please kindly contact Elizabeth Field who's contact details are shown on the right hand side of this page.
PixtoFlix Project
PixtoFlix brought together individuals and groups, including Forget Me Not members, and asked them to select photographs from their personal collections, before putting them in order to help tell a story about some aspect of their lives. These collections were then made into short films which you can watch using the link below:
Forget-Me-Nots Anniversary at Canterbury Festival
Read more about the Forget-Me-Nots 10th anniversary celebration
Forget-Me-Nots Dementia Enquirers Report and
Conference presentation
Read the Forget-Me-Nots Dementia Enquirers Report.
In November 2020, FMNs were given a DEEP enquiry grant to investigate The Impact of COVID-19 on People with Dementia. This research was led by the FMNs for people with dementia. The project took place between December 2020 and August 2021. The results provided key information on how people living with dementia experienced the COVID-19 pandemic, and it is hoped that the findings will reduce feelings of loneliness and empower people with dementia for the future.
Keith Oliver and Theo Chan of Forget me Nots presented the research at the Faculty of the Psychology of Older People 2021 online annual conference. Here is a recording of the presentation which includes three talks, and our presentation is between the timestamps 14:43 - 29:49. I hope you all enjoy it!
Time and Place poetry project
Read about the Time and Place poetry project
Open book
Read about the open book exhibition project
Volunteer with us
If you are interested in volunteering and supporting us with writing for speeches and publications, as a travel companion to meetings and conferences or administration of our meetings and events, please get in touch with Volunteer Coordinator Clare Streeter c.streeter@nhs.net. (This is a DEEP and Friends for Mental Health East Kent funded-post)
