Charlotte's Story

“Within the context of difficulty and challenge there are certainly plenty of opportunities and scope for joy and hope and positivity”

My name’s Charlotte and I co-run DIG (Dementia Inclusive Gardening) at PLOT 22. It began as a taster session back in 2016 and we’ve been running monthly DIG sessions ever since between the months of March and November.

I think PLOT 22 as a home for DIG is incredibly important. Very often if a person’s living with dementia they can experience sensory overload. But what we find time and again is that people feel rested and peaceful and even restored after spending time at the plot.

When people enter the space, you can almost see their body language change. It’s a space that can feel different across the seasons and there is a welcome for participants that allows them to feel safe in the space and not under pressure to perform.

We very much see DIG as partnership, participation, and collaboration so everybody is equally welcome and everybody has something to bring.

Our hope for Dementia Inclusive Gardening is that it will achieve three things - that people will get outdoors, that people will connect with the seasons, and that people will enjoy quality time with one another.

We meet on the first Wednesday of each month and each DIG session lasts for two hours from 10.30 to 12.30. We invite people who are living with dementia and their family members and their carers. We also have some volunteers come along to each session.

Once the participants have arrived and everyone has received a warm welcome which we see as super important, we gather together around the fire circle for a cup of tea or coffee. In the opening circle we invite people to share something that they like about the season and we share some tasks that are an invitation for the participants. We are always sure to be led by the energy and the pace of everyone who comes along.

After the opening circle, we then potter off to do our various seasonal tasks which could be anything from planting to watering to weeding to harvesting. For folk who are feeling a bit tired or not so high in energy, we sit with them to watch the world go by, tasks may be brought to them, or we look at the fruits of everyone’s labours together. Then at the end of our session, we meet again around the fire circle for a seasonal snack and another cup of tea or coffee.

We hope that at each session there will be an opportunity for people to have something to take away. Maybe a posy of flowers or herbs, fruit or veg that we’ve harvested, or perhaps a craft that people have made together.

The first Wednesday of the month is always one of my absolute favourite days, pottering with people who perhaps society might have in some way written off, thinking that maybe they’re not able to do the things that they were able to do in the past. In some respects that’s true – people, as they live with dementia and the dementia develops, are less able in some areas of their life. 

Dementia is degenerative and progressive so it will get worse. But within that context of difficulty and challenge there are certainly plenty of opportunities and scope for joy and hope and positivity. And I think that’s something that each of us can learn from nature and from the seasons - that difficulty and challenge are part of what it means to be human and to live in the world.

Some of my favourite times in my life are the times that I have spent with people who are living with dementia. I think very often, society sees value in what people can produce and what people can do, and so there’s a great emphasis on performance over presence. But what I’ve learnt from people living with dementia, and that includes every DIG session without exception, is that there’s a kind of presence and quality time that’s possible. 

Very often as well as having a seasonal take away like a posy of herbs or flowers, we also have printed poems for people to take home. A good rule of thumb is to have a poem that fits into one’s hand – a palm length poem, and in very legible, clear, and large font.

A couple of years ago, I took a Masters in Bibliotherapy and I love to use words for wellbeing in my work. DIG sessions feature words for wellbeing in the form of short poems, or seasonal sayings, or proverbs, or quotes. People may follow along with their eyes closed. Sometimes some of our participants living with dementia still retain a love of reading and they may read a poem all the way through or quietly read just a few words. 

When a person’s living with dementia, it’s assumed that their ability to use language creatively and playfully is no longer present, but in my experience the opposite is true. It’s just that there are different time frames and attention spans. If some creative writing or words for wellbeing are introduced in a playful and open way, it gives the greatest opportunity for people living with dementia to engage with that. It’s possible for the experience to be a beautiful one.

It’s not unusual for participants to say to me, “I’m sorry I can’t do anything anymore,” and I reply, “You’re here and that’s what matters most. We would miss you if you weren’t here.” I think about all the people who haven’t yet had the opportunity to come along. It’s such a special and inviting and holding space and the value is in being present and coming along, rather than the doing.

I like to see every DIG session as an invitation to be present. And that invitation to be present is not dependent on memory.

I like to see every DIG session as an invitation to be present. And that invitation to be present is not dependent on memory. We share and we hold the space together. We invite people into a space where they can participate and try something out, rather than being put in a corner of being asked a question to which there is a specific, hoped for answer. Rather than existing in a place of certainty, or facts, or figures, or right or wrong, as long as participants are safe and warm, there is very little precision. 

When we started DIG we didn’t have a particular thought about intergenerational participation, but after several sessions a couple of participants asked if it would be okay to bring along their grandchildren and we thought that was a tremendous idea. And ever since, people have been coming along with all generations from their family. There’s such a beautiful dynamic that exists between children and older people where there’s a kind of acceptance of one another and no pressure to get it right. To see young people between two and three, foraging and harvesting and sharing their foraged goods with DIG participants, is an absolute delight and joy. 

Since starting DIG in collaboration with PLOT 22, I’ve spent more time outdoors than I ever have, and the more time I spend outdoors, the more time I want to. I see the benefits of connection with nature and connection with one another while outdoors. 

I think a lot of people, especially when they live in towns and cities, think it’s not something that’s a possibility for them. I live in a tiny flat with no outdoor space, but since being a part of DIG I feel confident that connection with nature is a possibility for everyone, even when folk aren’t so able to get out and about. It’s still possible to bring the outdoors in and to be in touch with the seasons, even if it’s by having a jar of daffodils or daisies, or sprigs of rosemary or sage. This connection is very often either inexpensive or free but it’s not something that happens by accident. There’s a kind of intentionality and practice and habit that I’m now a huge advocate of both in my own life and in the lives of people that I’m working with.

I first started working with people living with dementia after being inspired by my gran. She and I were best friends in her later years when she was elderly and frail. And as we pottered about together going to the local shops, I started to observe how people were interacting with her. Although some folk were very kind, other people spoke down to her, being very patronising. First of all, I didn’t understand why they were doing that because my gran was my hero. And second of all, it made me cross because there was really no reason for it.

Inspired by my gran and the quality time we spent together, I was keen to work in social care. I first worked as a Support Worker for family carers, then as a Care Manager. What I realised really quickly was that my favourite thing was spending time with people and my least favourite thing was paperwork and bureaucracy! 

I sought out opportunities to spend more time with people living with dementia and I took an apprenticeship to be a Reminiscence Facilitator. I was keen to use words for wellbeing and I started working on projects that would give me the opportunity to spend more time with people living with dementia.

At PLOT 22, we’re equals together and we really value the quality time that we’re spending with one another. I would really love for people to know that dementia inclusivity is possible. Whether someone’s part of a community allotment, or a faith group, or perhaps they work at the post office or in a supermarket, I think it’s possible for everybody to take their next steps towards dementia inclusion. It’s about seeing the person beyond the diagnosis. 

As told to Vaska Trajkovska October 2019