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Almost 1 million people are living with dementia in the UK and that figure is expected to rise considerably over the next few years. With statutory services stretched to their limit, it often falls on charities to provide support, particularly for those who live alone.

Here in Hammersmith & Fulham, The Creighton Centre offers a lifeline to 350 socially isolated older people, most of whom are on a low income. The average age of participants is 82 and around 40% have dementia. Fundraiser Stephen Womersley shares, “We found that, increasingly, more people were being referred to us with dementia – mild, moderate and severe. We realised that we needed extra resources for them so created a comprehensive programme of support, Circle of Care, which is delivered by volunteers and overseen by a specialist dementia coordinator.”

That programme of support includes:

• Safe & well checks
• Home visits for housebound clients
• Emergency staff intervention
• Befriending
• Advocacy work
• Group activities such as gardening and dancing
• Events, workshops and advisory sessions
• Home adaptations
• GP/NHS liaison

Stephen says, “These are people who often fall through the gaps, so we bring together the various services they need, from an Admiral nurse to council support services, together under the umbrella of the Circle of Care programme. Our volunteers are trained to be able to recognise what services may be missing, what services need to be provided and what level of care that person needs.”

Loneliness and isolation increase the risk of developing dementia. On the other hand, conversations and group activities strengthen neural connections, so regular social interaction can actually slow down the rate that dementia progresses. In other words, when isolated older people are given the chance to regularly interact with others, it can significantly impact their life and help them to live independently for longer.

The Creighton Centre gives older people that chance to socialise, whether that’s during a home visit, a chair-based exercise class, or a stroll with a walking buddy.

Hammersmith United Charities’ grant

We’ve provided the Creighton Centre with a grant of £8,000 to help fund its dementia work. Stephen says, “It’s only because of funders like Hammersmith United Charities that we’re able to do what we do. This year, they’re supporting our older people services in Hammersmith; previously, they supported our learning disability programme, so we’re very grateful.”

Volunteer with the Creighton Centre

Like many charities, The Creighton Centre relies on volunteers to deliver its services. In total, it has around 120 volunteers supporting five different projects, and it’s currently recruiting people to act as specialist dementia and other volunteers.

If you’re interested in volunteering, there are a number of ways you can help, from visiting a housebound person once a week or providing a daily wellness check over the phone, to helping someone who’s recently been discharged from hospital to regain their independence. You’ll receive full training and ongoing support.

Visit https://www.creightoncentre.org/volunteer/ to find out more.

One in three people will develop dementia, and yet it remains a much-misunderstood condition. People don’t like to talk about it, assume it’s something only older people get, and think it will be obvious if you meet someone who’s living with it.

In fact, people often live with relatively mild symptoms for several years. What’s more, 70,800 people in the UK who have dementia developed it before they turned 65.

Clare Morris is the founder of For Brian, a dementia-inclusive CIC. She shares, “People of all ages, all walks of life and all cultural backgrounds can get dementia. I worked for many years with people with rare forms of dementia, some of whom were teenagers. People think dementia is just about memory, but you can also have problems with balance, mobility, communication, and visual and/or auditory perception.

“The thing that lights up the brain the most is social interaction and laughter. At For Brian, we walk, we cycle, we have parties, we have coffee mornings. It’s a space away from worries; there’s no need to divulge a diagnosis or fill in a referral form and we don’t talk about dementia unless they bring it up. As one woman with Alzheimer’s says, ‘It’s nice not to talk about things sometimes, but it’s also nice to know you can if you want to.’”

For Brian’s activities are co-produced with service users, some of whom now take an active role as directors. Clare says, “These are seldom-heard voices. If you take the trouble to meet people where they are, ask what’s important to them and do something about that, it’s therapeutically very powerful. It helps them to feel more in control of something in their life.”

Positive Spin

For Brian’s Positive Spin project brings people together to cycle, walk and socialise. Many of the attendees have dementia or another disability, such as cerebral palsy. People sometimes bring food to share and Clare is planning to organise picnics in the warmer months.

She explains, “We go to Bikeworks’ All Ability Cycling Hub, where there are different kinds of non-standard cycles to try or you can just walk around the park. We fund Cycle Connect, a four-person cycle taxi, to pick people up from their homes if they can’t walk there.

“One man was in a wheelchair and couldn’t stand, but we got him on a recumbent bike and he was cycling around independently. As one of our patrons says, ‘When I get on a bicycle, I leave my dementia monster at home.’

“Lots of people with dementia are very mobile, and they need to move around to help deal with the anxiety they’re feeling. The rest of life seems very strange, but there may be a familiarity about being on a cycle; it’s a procedural memory exercise, which can be a great tool for rehabilitation and wellbeing.

“At the same time, trying something a bit different is good for your brain and good for your body, and unless you keep moving, you stop being able to move.”

Enriching the outdoor space at Rosewood Square

Rosewood Square is a sheltered housing scheme on the border between Old Oak and East Acton. For the last few months, Clare and her team have been working to transform the scheme’s outdoor space. Clare shares, “We’ve been growing wildflowers from seed, we’ve got a little micro pond, and we’ve just got a bird bath.

“The residents are really excited. Several of them have dementia. While they can’t do the heavy work, they’re involved in all of the decisions about what we do.”

For Brian initiated coffee mornings at Rosewood Square, where activities are planned and scheduled, including regular parties with the residents.

Hammersmith United Charities’ grant

We provided For Brian with its first grant and have supported the CIC with more funding over the years, including £15,000 in our July 2025 grants round. Clare has put some of the money towards maintaining the garden at Rosewood Square and running the all-ability cycling group.

Get involved

If you want to take part in Positive Spin or another of For Brian’s dementia-inclusive activities, visit www.forbrian.co, contact the CIC or turn up at Old Oak Family Hub on a Friday morning at 10am and introduce yourself.

The mental and physical benefits of being out in nature are well understood, but today’s children and young people spend half the time outdoors than their parents did. Screentime is often blamed, but another key problem is opportunity, particularly in urban areas like Hammersmith. Many homes don’t have a shared or private garden, and school gardens are often little more than uninviting concrete spaces.

When Hammersmith Academy opened in 2011, its outdoor space was almost bare. However, over the years, the school has created a colourful garden with an abundance of flowers, fruit and vegetables.

Gary Kynaston, Headteacher at Hammersmith Academy, explains, “It was very much driven by the students and a teacher called Patrick Kirwan. As the years went on, the garden got bigger. They invested in a greenhouse, raised beds and picnic benches, and brought in chickens.”

In 2017, Hammersmith Academy won the RHS School Gardening Team of the Year award. David Domoney’s Cultivation Street award followed in 2018, and in 2021, Hammersmith Academy was named Sustainable School of the Year in the Sustainable City Awards.

The students have full access to the garden, but it’s become far more than just a space to spend time in. Sue Beenstock from Hammersmith Community Gardens Association (HCGA) works in the garden two days a week. She explains, “The garden is part of the fabric of the school. Every tutor group comes out for a few sessions each year, 30 pupils at a time, to do real, hands-on gardening. I’ve had them planting potatoes, propagating olives, bay and blackcurrants, and doing other work. They also really love looking after the chickens and collecting eggs. It’s practical but fun. They show curiosity and they have a go.”

A gardening club meets after school each week; several community groups use the space when the school is closed; and pupils can also volunteer in the garden to gain their Duke of Edinburgh award.

Sue says, “I want the students to have a sense of wonder at how incredible nature is when they’re planting and seeing things grow. We’re growing lots of different varieties, including around 15 types of tomatoes. In a supermarket, you have a very limited array, because the produce is grown to last a long time on the shelf. In the garden, we’re growing for colour and variety and taste, which is much more exciting.”

Later in the growing season, the pupils will be able to pick and eat the tomatoes and other fruit. As Sue says, “They’ll have planted it, watched it grow and tasted it.” This year, some of the fruit and veg might need to stay in the ground a bit longer as Sue and the pupils are aiming to grow giant pumpkins, leeks and marrows.

We recently granted the school £5,000 towards maintaining the garden. Hammersmith Academy is planning to use some of the money to create a pond in a new wildlife-friendly area of the garden.

Gary says, “A lot of our students live in homes that don’t have an outdoor space. They can go to the park, but there isn’t a space where they could get gardening experience if they didn’t get it here. They’re gaining useful skills. A couple of students have gone into gardening-related careers as a result of being part of the programme. One is currently working at the Royal Parks.

“Gardening is also a mindful activity, which really adds to the students’ overall wellbeing. A lot of students say to us that they find it very calming. It’s almost therapeutic.”

The Kulan Foundation had a humble start as a space where young people could get extra help with their homework, but over the last eight years, it’s grown into a vital community asset. Today, it offers a range of services for people who are from a global majority background.

Most service users are on a very low income and they’re often experiencing significant hardship. The foundation’s manager, Ismail Said, shares, “They have low wages but high rent. The electric cost now is high. The gas is high. A weekly shop that used to cost £90 is now £180. Costs are doubling, but income is not going up. Many people are also supporting family back home.”

Quality education

Education is one of the best tools a person has to lift themselves out of poverty. However, many children need extra support that their parents just can’t give them. As Ismail explains, “The parents can’t help the children because they don’t have the English or don’t have the education.”

To ensure that children get the support they need, the Kulan Foundation runs after-school clubs in core subjects, including maths, English and science. The centre has seen young people gain top marks in exams and graduate from university in subjects such as law, medicine, midwifery and accountancy. Some graduates then return to the centre to give talks, which, as Ismail shares, “means that young people can see people who are the same as them, with the same language, who are successful.”

As well as giving talks, many of the young people choose to ‘pay it forward’ by volunteering in their community. Some coach the foundation’s football teams; others teach English or work with children at the youth club. Ismail says, “What we see now is that our young people are making more connections with the community, and becoming good examples for other young people.”

Adult development

Many of the adults who turn to the Kulan Foundation are not fluent in English, which makes it extremely difficult for them to find work. The foundation runs programmes to help service users become more confident in English, maths and digital skills, and to learn how to write a CV, apply for jobs and generally prepare for employment. Adults are also brought together to form social connections and enjoy leisure activities.

Mental health support

Ismail is seeing more young people, particularly girls, who have mental health issues, some of whom are refusing to go to school or don’t even want to leave the house.

As well as supporting the young people directly, the Kulan Foundation educates parents about mental health, including how to increase wellbeing, signs to watch for, how to talk to children about mental health and what to do if someone is struggling.

Hammersmith United Charities’ grant

The foundation is receiving a £10,000 grant from Hammersmith United Charities, which it’s putting towards delivering a homework club for disadvantaged children and teenagers.

Ismail says, “Hammersmith United Charities has supported us from the beginning. I think they were our first funder. They’ve made us strong and sustainable.”

Get involved

The Kulan Foundation is based in the basement of 108 Goldhawk Road, London, W12 8HD. You can find out more about the charity on its website: www.kulanfoundation.com. If you’d like to join one of its classes, email admin@kulanfoundation.com or call  07539989970.