Dementia Enquirers pioneers

This empowered and pioneering group of nine people, all living with dementia, shaped the entire Dementia Enquirers programme. As the work progressed, some of the Pioneers recorded audio diaries or wrote blogs to capture their own thoughts about the project (scroll down to find these).

Daithì Clayton

Daithì is a human rights advocate devoted to healthcare and housing equity for older LGBTQI+ adults.

Teresa Davies (Dory)

Teresa is a retired landscape gardener, diagnosed with Alzheimer’s when she was 59. She is an active Dementia Diarist.

Irene Donaldson

Irene is a retired Primary School Deputy Head Teacher. She was diagnosed with Young Onset Dementia at 53years old. She retired early from work but now particularly enjoys working in primary schools encouraging youngsters to become Dementia Friends.

Howard Gordon

Howard was an Auxiliary Nurse in the NHS until his diagnosis of Alzheimer’s and Fronto Temporal dementia in March 2017. He is a dementia activist in Sheffield.

Agnes Houston

Agnes was trained as a Queen Alexander Army Nurse.  She was diagnosed with Dementia of the Alzheimer’s type at age 57 and became a dementia activist. Her strap line is “ Think Dementia think Sensory Think Solutions”.

Stephen Kennedy

I was diagnosed as having frontal lobe dementia and Alzheimer’s in November 2016. My life changed dramatically that day and I am now a very prominent person in driving forward changes and help for people living with a diagnosis of Dementia in Northern Ireland whilst raising public awareness of the condition.

Mhari McLintock

Mhari is a mother, wife, tandemer, friend, a Zoomette and Advocate for Dementia Inclusive Church… and she likes to dance.

Wendy Mitchell

Wendy was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s in 2014.  She took early retirement from her work in the NHS to enjoy life “while I’m still me” and writes a popular blog.

Masood Qureshi (Maq)

I have had the diagnosis since 2011, and am a Pioneer member for Innovation in Dementia. I am also a volunteer for Alsheimer’s Society and a steering group member for 3NDWG. Locally I belong to Beth Johnson Foundation, DEEP Group and am founder member of Peer Support Group for PLWD.

I have taken part in research with 4 Universities and with several topics with DEEP.

George Rook

George is a retired teacher and accountant, diagnosed with mixed dementia in 2014. He has become an activist for better dementia care, and, recently, a dementia craftivist