Primary school pupils are turning the tables and teaching their peers about living with dementia.

Known as G-Force, the group frpm Glebe Primary School in Hillingdon have built up friendships with Parkfield House residents during regular creative workshops with Equal Arts.

Now the Year 5 and 6 pupils have been inspired, working with artists for an innovative project to help breakdown stereotypes about dementia. 

Hannah Wood, our project manager and creative practitioner, said: “Rather than focus on memory-based activities it’s about creating meaningful connections through creativity and supporting people to explore their imagination, there’s no wrong way to be creative. The cross-generational workshops are filled with understanding and laughter. This relationship was the inspiration for the project and exploring how we could young people to creatively share their knowledge and understanding of dementia."

Having seen firsthand the benefit creativity can have for people living with dementia, the 10 and 11-year-olds worked with an animator and creative writer to share their understanding with friends and the wider community.

Year 6 pupil Bonnie added: “We think it’s important for people to know more about dementia, some children and adults don’t know what to expect and that can seem scary. If someone you know has dementia, like your Nan and they do something out of character, it can help if you understand more about dementia. We have friends in school whose grandparents have got dementia so we really wanted more people to know what this can mean.”

Clare Sheldon, Pastoral Support Officer at the school, added: “G-Force was set up with the pupils as a way for them to make a difference in their community. It's been wholly led by their interests and ideas and wanting to share with others their experiences of spending time with people at Parkfield to help build a strong community. We’ve loved seeing how the project has developed!”

The 12-month project, has been made possible with funding from the Co-op Foundation and iWill. The animation and dementia-awareness information is being shown across the school’s classrooms.