Author: Isobel Wise

Diagnosed with early onset dementia two years ago, Ewan’s mum is one of our members at our Memory Connections groups.

This October, he’s taking on the Bath to Bristol Railway Race, running 25km along the Bristol to Bath cycle path, to raise money for Alive, inspired by his mum, Sue.

Ewan’s fundraiser for Alive.

11 October 2026, Bristol to Bath Railway Race.

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Ewan says:

About 2 years ago my mum, Sue, was diagnosed with early onset dementia. Running was something that my mum did all the time and was certainly an inspiration to me; running a marathon at 60 and doing over 300 parkruns.

Explaining the feeling of seeing someone go through this disease is difficult. It takes away someone you love in front of your eyes and I imagine, like other diseases, makes you feel powerless to stop it. On a slightly nicer note this is made 1000 times easier by the fact my Mum is mostly in a good mood, always joking and always seeing the funny side of life.

Whilst I know how much my Mum is going through it can be the people around someone suffering which are hit the hardest. Things like Memory Connections that Alive put on have helped my Mum and Dad meet people on the same journey, talk and confide but also realise they are not alone.

Donating to Alive helps keep these events going and provide a really invaluable service to dementia patients and their families.

Any donations however small are greatly appreciated!

Ewan x

You can donate to Ewan’s fundraiser here.

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Delivering a creative workshop for some of the older people we support, it’s been brilliant to hear of the intergenerational connections formed between work experience students at the Royal West of England Academy and Bristol Elders Groups members.

The RWA’s Work Experience programme gives young people aged 14 to 19 the chance to complete a two-week placement, supporting young people who experience challenges in education due to SEN, offering first-hand experience of working in an art gallery and building confidence in a professional setting. The seven students chosen this year, named their group ‘Young Minds’.

As part of the experience, students worked with freelance artist Victoria Willmott to lead a creative workshop for some of the Caribbean Elders we support. Thanked by the RWA’s Head of Learning & Engagement for being a ‘big part’ of the students’ experience over the summer, members from the Evergreens group described the workshop as ‘therapeutic’ and loved its intergenerational nature.

A huge thank you to the students of ‘Young Minds’ and the RWA team.

You can read more about the experience on the RWA website.
Learn more about the Bristol Elders Groups.

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The Good Life with Dementia is a six-week course designed for people living with dementia. Each session has been co-designed by people with lived experience of dementia, who have chosen the topics they believe are most valuable and relevant for others living with the condition.

The course will be held at The Park, Daventry Road, Knowle on Thursday mornings from 10:30 to 12:30 and will start on September 3rd.

If this sounds of interest and you would like to know more, please get in touch by emailing jen@aliveactivities.org or calling 07768 917 120.

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We were thrilled to accept a very generous donation from Westbury Scottish Country Dance Club at their Charity Dance last weekend.

Maintaining a long tradition of fundraising for a charity each season – usually a small, local charity – the club has raised an amazing £1,756.14 for Alive.

Our Office & Services Manager, Carmel attended the dance to thank the club for their amazing efforts and tell them about our work supporting older people and their carers.

Find out more about donating to Alive.

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Join us on Sunday 5th July 12-4pm as we open the gates to our dementia-friendly allotment in North Bristol with the NGS for the first time.

Guy, who designed and built the allotment with Abi in 2020–2021, will be hosting tours of the site at 1pm, 2pm and 3pm, talking through the impact the site has had on participants over the years and how we give back to the community by supplying food not just to those who attend but also to community kitchens and food clubs across Bristol and how we contribute to community growing projects city-wide such as Bristol Seed Swap and Bristol Hops Collective.

People who join us every week and help make the space the multi-sensory, productive place it is will also be joining us to talk about why they find gardening so good for their wellbeing, or just to show you what they planted and how they nurture their favourite vegetables and flowers.

Pre-book online or pay on the day. See you there!

About Our Allotment

Our dementia-friendly allotment in Brentry will have been open for five years come August, in which time it has grown from its initial, quite strict remit – a space for people living with dementia to continue gardening into later life – into a vibrant and bustling community growing space that also happens to be fully accessible, safe, welcoming and therapeutic for those with dementia and their carers.

Although the site’s primary purpose is still a healing sanctuary for participants and volunteers alike, we don’t believe we have to abandon high horticultural standards to deliver that – or to garden in ways that aren’t sustainable and environmentally friendly. Our beds are all minimally dug, our three-bay compost system fuels the allotment, and our water capture game improves every year.

We also feel that aesthetics matter. You won’t find any bright blue MDPE water piping on our plot, let alone tatty scaffolding netting, yoghurt pots topping canes, or CDs to scare off birds. Instead, you’ll find a space that pops and pings with colour, using natural materials wherever possible and wouldn’t be out of place at the Chelsea Flower Show.

So come and join us. We’ll have tea and amazing cakes for sale and look forward to welcoming you to our site.

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A huge thank you for all the fantastic support we’ve been granted from our funders recently, and to all those fab people who have raised vital funds for Alive through amazing efforts in marathon and 10K races and our recent Step Into May walking events.

An enormous thank you to the trusts and foundations below for their incredible support of our Dementia Meeting Centres and community-based dementia services: The Fairfield Charitable Trust (£10,000), The Souter Charitable Trust (£3,000), The Hedley Foundation (£3,000), and The Anchor Society (£10,000). Alive wouldn’t be able to continue to run these invaluable services without their generous support – thank you so much!

Thank you too to Karl Harris for raising a brilliant £1,731 with his London Marathon fundraising, our lovely Trustee Catherine Smith for raising a fantastic grand total of £1,248 through her Bristol 10K race, and all the Alive staff and supporters who helped raise an amazing £2,600 in our Step Into May campaign!

For more information on how you can support our charity, reach out to our Fundraising Manager via fundraising@aliveactivities.org or call the office on 07861 385 543.

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Published in time for Pride Month, we’re thrilled to share a selection of the letters written by and for different generations of LGBTQ+ members in our local community.

As part of our intergenerational STANd project, Letters to My Younger Self invited over 50s in the LGBTQ+ community to reflect on their experiences growing up and then share them with younger people through the exchange of letters, poems, drawings and playlists.

Take a read by clicking on the booklet cover below:

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Helping to bring our work to life, here’s to Alive’s fantastic volunteers. Generously sharing their time, kindness, skills, and joy with the older people we support and our staff, our brilliant team of volunteers assist us across our:

🌱 Dementia-friendly gardening groups

👶 Intergenerational sessions

❤️ Dementia support groups

🤝 Community groups & projects

🏥 Hospital gardens

💌 Carer’s sessions – and more!

We’re also incredibly grateful to have such supportive trustees, volunteering their time and expertise which is so vital to our charity.

The true heart of Alive, we couldn’t do what we do without them. Happy Volunteers’ Week to you all!

Fancy making a difference to the lives of older people? Get involved and find out more.

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We were thrilled to accept the prestigious Prize of Honour at this year’s Prince of Wales Award for our Hoppiness Project.

Presented at the opening ceremony of the Royal Bath & West Show, the award celebrates projects run by the community, for the community, and is proudly sponsored by the Duchy of Cornwall.

Picking up the award alongside Community Services Manager, Jen, our CEO Isobel Jones said:

“I couldn’t quite believe it when they announced us as winners. My heartfelt thanks goes out to the panel of judges who told us their decision was unanimous – this is such an honour.”

“To see the Hoppiness Project capture the hearts of so many people over the years has been a real privilege.“

What began as a care home resident’s joke about “growing beer”, our Hoppiness Project has blossomed into something rather special since its inception. Starting out as a small pilot at Deerhurst Care Home in 2023, it then grew into a University of Bristol research collaboration, and last year culminated in the co-designing – and growing hops for – a centenary beer made alongside St Monica Trust residents and local brewery Wiper and True.

This year sees the project returning to its heart: sessions in care homes, thanks to funding from The Shaw Trust.

Find out more about The Hoppiness Project.

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Give it up for everyone that joined our group walk on Saturday raising money for Alive!

We’ve raised over £2.4K so far for our Step Into May appeal: encouraging people to get active to help light up later life.

Taking on 1, 5 and 10-mile routes through Bristol, it was a wonderful chance to share stories about our work and take in the sights of our city (even if we weren’t too fond of the hill at Ashton Court!).

A huge thank you to everyone that joined us and a special shout out to the folks at Good Miles and Walk Bristol for their kind support.

There’s still time to donate, so please help us raise funds to support older people and their carers by donating to our JustGiving page.

Every step counts!

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