mindSCAPE

mindSCAPE is a regular social and activity group run for people living with dementia and their carers, with the aim of connecting them with the outdoors and nature. We have tried to continue to support them through this difficult year in many imaginative ways, including through regular creative activity sessions on Zoom.

These flowers were made at a workshop run by Bela, attended by 12 mindSCAPE members.

*Click on the images to enlarge them.

This poem was created using the words, ideas and memories of mindSCAPE members who attended a workshop led by local writer Liz Bell.

 

Watch a recital of this poem by Valerie Bishop here

 

We Still Have the Forest

a MindSCAPE collaboration

We put our arms around the trees; listen as
life rushes up to the top, watch sunlight
sparkling through green freshness.

Each one has its own design:
the shape of the trunk,
the texture of bark.
And you,

hands full of
rocks and leaves;
pockets full of grit and dirt.

You see fractals in the forest,
stained glass windows in the trees;
you see a pretty stone and pick it up,

put it in your bag. You make me look at things
differently – the way a colour would be on a hedge;
a special beech tree split into a sculpture of a holy trinity.

And then, lightning strikes, and it all changes.
At the funeral, birdsong fills the church.

But although we lose trees,
we still have the forest.

Like an etching
– what’s left is
what matters
in the end.