Phoenix - rising above dementia

Phoenix is a group for people living with dementia who are either current or former service-users living in the Ashford area.

Formed in September 2017, the Phoenix group currently has 17 members, including 10 people living with dementia, 4 family members, and 3 facilitators. We meet monthly at Repton Connect Community Centre, with the aim of raising the profile of people living with a dementia and increasing the understanding of what it is like to live with a diagnosis of a dementia, including challenging stereotypes and stigma. 

As ‘dementia activists’, we are hoping to get increasingly involved with projects such as dementia-friendly initiatives to improve built environments, businesses, services, educational and health centres or help with recruitment of healthcare professionals and advise on how to be inclusive to people living with dementia. 

In 2018, we became a member of the Dementia Engagement and Empowerment Project (DEEP), a national network of similar groups.

We have our own logo too, designed by a previous member of Phoenix and our trust Communications team.

The Phoenix group meet on the 4th Thursday of each month from 12:30-2:30 at Repton Connect Community Centre in Ashford.

If you want to know more about Phoenix, please get in touch.

Past Research project 

Read a past research project from 2022 by Ashford Phoenix which aimed to see if the group, as individuals living with dementia, would benefit emotionally and cognitively, from creating a piece of music by all learning a new instrument rather than just being participants in music sessions: DEEP Enquirers Research – Therapeutic Values of Involvement in Practical Music Making for Dementia.