bold is an innovative programme providing free leadership opportunities across Scotland to help those living with dementia flourish. The bold project brings together people living with dementia, family members and friends, professional carers, NHS staff, artists and people from all walks of life.
The project has focused on using creative arts methods for personal development and I was honoured to be Founding Creative Director, project facilitator and partner @ bold.
“As the Creative Director of the BOLD Programme, Magdalena led the way in challenging the whole team in thinking creatively about every aspect of the programme. In facilitating the co-design of the programme of face to face and online workshops, creative practices were completely embedded in the work. It was wonderful to experience practices in a virtual world that are often considered possible during in-person workshop activity. The focus on creativity elevated the potential of BOLD and created a natural legacy of creative practices that have become normalised in how we engage with persons living with a dementia.”
To find out more about bold, please click here: bold Scotland
The full project title, Bringing Out Leaders in Dementia, recognises that a large number of new leaders of all ages and from all walks of life, including many persons living with dementia, are already finding their place in ‘the dementia world’.
In 2019 we started the project in Inverness and East Lothian. When we were no longer able to meet in person due to Covid-19, in October 2020 we launched an exciting new creative and interactive online Social Leadership programme with partners from all across Scotland. The people that we were working with were a real mix of those working in the community; on arts projects; in care homes and charities. Some had relatives living with dementia; others had a dementia diagnosis and others were purely interested in doing something positive to help those living with dementia reach their potential. The focus of bold has always been to use a mixture of methods to encourage creativity, innovation and personal development.
If interested, please have a look at my bold blogs:
The initial five-years of the bold project was delivered in partnership by The University of Edinburgh and Queen Margaret University and funded by the Life Changes Trust. I was delighted to be collaborating on the project with all bold partners, the bold team and Founding bold Project Co-Directors:
Prof Brendan McCormack, Head of School & Dean, Susan Wakil School of Nursing and Midwifery, Sydney Nursing School, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney
Prof Heather Wilkinson, Director of Edinburgh Centre for Research on the Experience of Dementia (ECRED), The University of Edinburgh.
