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Well I Know Now with Pippa Kelly

Well I Know Now with Pippa Kelly

Pippa Kelly

Well I Know Now with Pippa Kelly is a podcast in which she and her guests discuss what their dementia experiences have taught them. From profound life lessons to the importance of professionals who truly understand and the joy to be found in the smallest things.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Top 10 Well I Know Now with Pippa Kelly Episodes

Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best Well I Know Now with Pippa Kelly episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to Well I Know Now with Pippa Kelly for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite Well I Know Now with Pippa Kelly episode by adding your comments to the episode page.

Well I Know Now with Pippa Kelly - Suzy Webster

Suzy Webster

Well I Know Now with Pippa Kelly

When I last interviewed today’s guest for this podcast it was the summer of 2020 and we were cautiously emerging from our first lockdown. Back then, in July 2020, I said that I admired this young mum from Chepstow for her understated determination, her strength of character and her obvious love for her family. Two difficult years on those words are truer than ever.

Suzy Webster’s Covid experiences have been an intense, distilled version of many of ours. We’ve all had to adapt, to become used to a new norm all the while knowing that it wasn’t forever. For better or worse, families were thrown together in unusually close proximity. For Suzy, whose parents came to live with her, her husband Andrew and their two young daughters ten years ago, this meant caring, intimately, for her mum Barbara whose dementia is now so advanced that she rarely speaks and cannot walk or look after her personal needs. It brought two terrible days when they thought they were losing Barbara and open, honest conversations with the teenage girls.

While continuing to work three days a week for Age Cymru (the Welsh equivalent of Age UK), Suzy, a trained social worker, cared for her mum for over three months before fully handing back this role to formal carers a few weeks ago. She was also home schooling her girls. She admits it was exhausting – physically, mentally and emotionally. Zoom helped them all. And online yoga gave Suzy breathing space. Recently, since the world’s opened up, she’s started playing netball and launched herself into sea dipping.

So much has changed since 2020, Suzy says. “But every day is new and life moves on. There are moments of joy most days; sometimes you have to remind yourself to look for them and dwell in them. I hold mum’s hand more now and stroke her hair. The girls tell her about their day and Andy always gives mum her dinner when he comes home from work”.

It was very apparent the last time she and I spoke that Suzy’s husband Andy, a hospice chaplain, is a huge support to her. “I couldn’t have done any of this without him,” she told me. “He’s a very special human being”.



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When I last interviewed today’s guest for this podcast it was the summer of 2020 and we were cautiously emerging from our first lockdown. Back then, in July 2020, I said that I admired this young mum from Chepstow for her understated determination, her strength of character and her obvious love for her family. Two difficult years on those words are truer than ever.

Suzy Webster’s Covid experiences have been an intense, distilled version of many of ours. We’ve all had to adapt, to become used to a new norm all the while knowing that it wasn’t forever. For better or worse, families were thrown together in unusually close proximity. For Suzy, whose parents came to live with her, her husband Andrew and their two young daughters ten years ago, this meant caring, intimately, for her mum Barbara whose dementia is now so advanced that she rarely speaks and cannot walk or look after her personal needs. It brought two terrible days when they thought they were losing Barbara and open, honest conversations with the teenage girls.

While continuing to work three days a week for Age Cymru (the Welsh equivalent of Age UK), Suzy, a trained social worker, cared for her mum for over three months before fully handing back this role to formal carers a few weeks ago. She was also home schooling her girls. She admits it was exhausting – physically, mentally and emotionally. Zoom helped them all. And online yoga gave Suzy breathing space. Recently, since the world’s opened up, she’s started playing netball and launched herself into sea dipping.

So much has changed since 2020, Suzy says. “But every day is new and life moves on. There are moments of joy most days; sometimes you have to remind yourself to look for them and dwell in them. I hold mum’s hand more now and stroke her hair. The girls tell her about their day and Andy always gives mum her dinner when he comes home from work”.

It was very apparent the last time she and I spoke that Suzy’s husband Andy, a hospice chaplain, is a huge support to her. “I couldn’t have done any of this without him,” she told me. “He’s a very special human being”.



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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05/18/22 • 55 min

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Well I Know Now with Pippa Kelly - Dr Jennifer Bute

Dr Jennifer Bute

Well I Know Now with Pippa Kelly

Dr Jennifer Bute regards the dementia with which she was diagnosed in 2009 not as a life-shattering disaster but a gift – to use her words, “a glorious opportunity”. She is a remarkable individual who, despite facing many adversities, and supported by her strong Christian Faith, remains brimming with hope and gratitude.

It is a sign of her fortitude and determination that she was the first woman in Hampshire to become a Fellow of the Royal College of General Practitioners – and this when she was already beginning to display symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease.

She says that her condition has enriched her life because she now knows the condition, not just as a professional, or as a relative (her father also lived with dementia) but from the inside. In 2018 her book, Dementia From The Inside, A Doctor’s Personal Journey of Hope, was published and is available from Amazon in paperback and Kindle https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dementia-Inside-doctors-personal-journey/dp/0281080690/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=.

Her website http://www.gloriousopportunity.org/ contains a myriad of resources, including information on the fascinating Japanese Memory Groups that she runs at the dementia-inclusive retirement village where she lives in Somerset. Dr Bute also has a Facebook page, again called Glorious Opportunityhttps://www.facebook.com/gloriousopportunity.



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dr Jennifer Bute regards the dementia with which she was diagnosed in 2009 not as a life-shattering disaster but a gift – to use her words, “a glorious opportunity”. She is a remarkable individual who, despite facing many adversities, and supported by her strong Christian Faith, remains brimming with hope and gratitude.

It is a sign of her fortitude and determination that she was the first woman in Hampshire to become a Fellow of the Royal College of General Practitioners – and this when she was already beginning to display symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease.

She says that her condition has enriched her life because she now knows the condition, not just as a professional, or as a relative (her father also lived with dementia) but from the inside. In 2018 her book, Dementia From The Inside, A Doctor’s Personal Journey of Hope, was published and is available from Amazon in paperback and Kindle https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dementia-Inside-doctors-personal-journey/dp/0281080690/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=.

Her website http://www.gloriousopportunity.org/ contains a myriad of resources, including information on the fascinating Japanese Memory Groups that she runs at the dementia-inclusive retirement village where she lives in Somerset. Dr Bute also has a Facebook page, again called Glorious Opportunityhttps://www.facebook.com/gloriousopportunity.



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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11/17/20 • 46 min

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Well I Know Now with Pippa Kelly - Heather Sharp & Steph Quintrell

Heather Sharp & Steph Quintrell

Well I Know Now with Pippa Kelly

In this podcast I talk to two women who, in their different yet linked ways, have grown to appreciate the importance of identity, purpose and togetherness. The common theme isn’t dementia but being the partners of military men – though never fear, dementia plays quite a part in our discussions as you will hear.

Heather Sharp and her husband were both serving in the Army when, after having their two children, Heather made the difficult decision to leave. She didn’t know what to expect as a military wife and readily admits she had preconceived notions of coffee mornings and bridge. How wrong she was.

Heather discovered a diverse, dynamic and resilient group of women who had all made huge sacrifices to support their partners’ careers, and she realised that if this formidable set of women harnessed their skills and experiences they could achieve incredible goals. And so the Forces Wives Challenge was born. Through their feats of endeavour, they raise funds for deserving causes that almost always involve Forces children.

My second guest is Steph Quintrell. Another Army wife and mother, Steph worked for many years in the care sector, often among those with dementia, until, in 2019 she was diagnosed with a profoundly life-changing complex neurological disorder and found herself permanently confined to a wheelchair. She says it took her two years to come to terms with her diagnosis.

Then she discovered the Forces Wives Challenge on Facebook and immediately recognised the women involved in it as kindred spirits who were, like her, energetic and passionate. She couldn’t physically partake in the physically demanding challenges, so took on an admin role, which she loved.

A keen horsewoman, Steph rediscovered freedom and independence through riding and it was her husband John who suggested that, were the Forces Wives to take on a riding challenge, Steph could take part.

This June, Steph will be part of the team crossing the Pyrenees on horseback as they recreate the Second World War Freedom Trail, one of the many escape routes over the mountains into Spain. An astonishing achievement for anyone, a true route to freedom and independence for Steph, who told me, “Being part of the Forces Wives Challenge gave me back my sense of being, of identity and purpose. I’m a much happier person now – in fact, I have a happier life now than before my disability”.



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this podcast I talk to two women who, in their different yet linked ways, have grown to appreciate the importance of identity, purpose and togetherness. The common theme isn’t dementia but being the partners of military men – though never fear, dementia plays quite a part in our discussions as you will hear.

Heather Sharp and her husband were both serving in the Army when, after having their two children, Heather made the difficult decision to leave. She didn’t know what to expect as a military wife and readily admits she had preconceived notions of coffee mornings and bridge. How wrong she was.

Heather discovered a diverse, dynamic and resilient group of women who had all made huge sacrifices to support their partners’ careers, and she realised that if this formidable set of women harnessed their skills and experiences they could achieve incredible goals. And so the Forces Wives Challenge was born. Through their feats of endeavour, they raise funds for deserving causes that almost always involve Forces children.

My second guest is Steph Quintrell. Another Army wife and mother, Steph worked for many years in the care sector, often among those with dementia, until, in 2019 she was diagnosed with a profoundly life-changing complex neurological disorder and found herself permanently confined to a wheelchair. She says it took her two years to come to terms with her diagnosis.

Then she discovered the Forces Wives Challenge on Facebook and immediately recognised the women involved in it as kindred spirits who were, like her, energetic and passionate. She couldn’t physically partake in the physically demanding challenges, so took on an admin role, which she loved.

A keen horsewoman, Steph rediscovered freedom and independence through riding and it was her husband John who suggested that, were the Forces Wives to take on a riding challenge, Steph could take part.

This June, Steph will be part of the team crossing the Pyrenees on horseback as they recreate the Second World War Freedom Trail, one of the many escape routes over the mountains into Spain. An astonishing achievement for anyone, a true route to freedom and independence for Steph, who told me, “Being part of the Forces Wives Challenge gave me back my sense of being, of identity and purpose. I’m a much happier person now – in fact, I have a happier life now than before my disability”.



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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04/05/23 • 52 min

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Well I Know Now with Pippa Kelly - 4. Suzy Webster

4. Suzy Webster

Well I Know Now with Pippa Kelly

Young mum Suzy Webster is quietly very strong. She has a softness about her that belies her courage and determination. Not many of us possess the generosity of spirit or wells of emotional, physical and mental strength to invite our elderly parents come and live with us, particularly when one of them has dementia. This young mum from Chepstow, ably and wisely supported by her husband Andrew, does. She never shouts about it, or judges others against the way she lives her life, she simply gets on with it with steely, dignified grace. She will kill me for writing this, but she humbles me.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Young mum Suzy Webster is quietly very strong. She has a softness about her that belies her courage and determination. Not many of us possess the generosity of spirit or wells of emotional, physical and mental strength to invite our elderly parents come and live with us, particularly when one of them has dementia. This young mum from Chepstow, ably and wisely supported by her husband Andrew, does. She never shouts about it, or judges others against the way she lives her life, she simply gets on with it with steely, dignified grace. She will kill me for writing this, but she humbles me.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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07/01/20 • 39 min

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Well I Know Now with Pippa Kelly - 1. Nula Suchet

1. Nula Suchet

Well I Know Now with Pippa Kelly

In my first podcast I meet the acclaimed interior designer Nula Suchet whose late husband began to develop Pick’s disease, a rare form of dementia, when he was just 57. This warm, passionate Irish woman tells me that she didn’t even know what dementia was when James first started to show symptoms. She describes how isolating it was as she struggled to look after him and her shock at the lack of support. We hear how her extraordinary love for James remained undiminished even as dementia stole him away and how she found new happiness with broadcaster and journalist John Suchet, whose late wife Bonnie also developed the condition. Nula and James’ story is told in her book The Longest Farewell and, though one of sadness and pain, it is also – wonderfully and surprisingly – one of hope.


Nula’s book, The Longest Farewell, is available from www.amazon.co.uk and other useful websites are www.raredementiasupport.org, www.alzheimers.org.uk and www.dementiauk.org



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In my first podcast I meet the acclaimed interior designer Nula Suchet whose late husband began to develop Pick’s disease, a rare form of dementia, when he was just 57. This warm, passionate Irish woman tells me that she didn’t even know what dementia was when James first started to show symptoms. She describes how isolating it was as she struggled to look after him and her shock at the lack of support. We hear how her extraordinary love for James remained undiminished even as dementia stole him away and how she found new happiness with broadcaster and journalist John Suchet, whose late wife Bonnie also developed the condition. Nula and James’ story is told in her book The Longest Farewell and, though one of sadness and pain, it is also – wonderfully and surprisingly – one of hope.


Nula’s book, The Longest Farewell, is available from www.amazon.co.uk and other useful websites are www.raredementiasupport.org, www.alzheimers.org.uk and www.dementiauk.org



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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06/08/20 • 42 min

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Well I Know Now with Pippa Kelly - Lori La Bey

Lori La Bey

Well I Know Now with Pippa Kelly

In her native America, Lori La Bey has been recognised for her tireless work to improve the lives of those with dementia through creating, discovering and making accessible a wide range of resources. She has been hailed as a Health Hero by none other than Oprah Winfrey and championed as an Architect for Change by the former First Lady of California, Maria Shriver.

Since walking away from a successful career in real estate in 2009, Lori has launched America’s first radio station dedicated to dementia – indeed, Alzheimer’s Speaks is believed to be the first dementia radio station in the world. Global first or not, Alzheimer’s Speaks gives a voice to everyone, allowing people and companies from throughout the world to share their business and educational resources, products and advice. While a Dementia Map provides a worldwide directory of blogs, relevant enterprises and events to which individuals and companies can sign up to make their offerings available to a wider public.

Lori was instrumental in creating America’s first dementia friendly community in Watertown, Wisconsin in 2013, three years later she launched one of the country’s first memory cafés in Roseville, Minnesota. Her webinar series, Dementia Chats, sees the real experts – those living with the condition – offering their invaluable advice.

Recently, her children’s book, Betty the Bald Chicken, co-authored with Scott Carlson, was published. As with all Lori’s dementia work, the book is inspired by her mother’s 30 year struggle with Alzheimer’s and her own caring role. But it’s not limited to dementia, Betty’s story applies to virtually any situation in which someone finds themselves on the outside, struggling to fit in and not being understood. It teaches people of all ages that we have much more in common than sets us apart.

“We need to shift how we care for one another and ourselves from crisis to comfort,” Lori told Maria Shriver. “We need to give hope and support to families and professionals alike, through open conversations, shared life stories and lessons learnt. Dementia is not a disease of one but of society”.



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In her native America, Lori La Bey has been recognised for her tireless work to improve the lives of those with dementia through creating, discovering and making accessible a wide range of resources. She has been hailed as a Health Hero by none other than Oprah Winfrey and championed as an Architect for Change by the former First Lady of California, Maria Shriver.

Since walking away from a successful career in real estate in 2009, Lori has launched America’s first radio station dedicated to dementia – indeed, Alzheimer’s Speaks is believed to be the first dementia radio station in the world. Global first or not, Alzheimer’s Speaks gives a voice to everyone, allowing people and companies from throughout the world to share their business and educational resources, products and advice. While a Dementia Map provides a worldwide directory of blogs, relevant enterprises and events to which individuals and companies can sign up to make their offerings available to a wider public.

Lori was instrumental in creating America’s first dementia friendly community in Watertown, Wisconsin in 2013, three years later she launched one of the country’s first memory cafés in Roseville, Minnesota. Her webinar series, Dementia Chats, sees the real experts – those living with the condition – offering their invaluable advice.

Recently, her children’s book, Betty the Bald Chicken, co-authored with Scott Carlson, was published. As with all Lori’s dementia work, the book is inspired by her mother’s 30 year struggle with Alzheimer’s and her own caring role. But it’s not limited to dementia, Betty’s story applies to virtually any situation in which someone finds themselves on the outside, struggling to fit in and not being understood. It teaches people of all ages that we have much more in common than sets us apart.

“We need to shift how we care for one another and ourselves from crisis to comfort,” Lori told Maria Shriver. “We need to give hope and support to families and professionals alike, through open conversations, shared life stories and lessons learnt. Dementia is not a disease of one but of society”.



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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04/12/23 • 55 min

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Well I Know Now with Pippa Kelly - 5. Tony Husband

5. Tony Husband

Well I Know Now with Pippa Kelly

Creative from the tip of his head to his northern roots – he was born in Blackpool – cartoonist Tony Husband shows no sign of letting up as he approaches his seventies. His spare, witty drawings have appeared in virtually all of our national newspapers and magazines, and following the death of his dad Ron in 2011 Tony has turned his considerable wit and skill to raising awareness of dementia.

Ron lived with vascular dementia for his last few years and in this podcast Tony tells me what his dad’s experience has taught him about the power of creativity, humour and music to connect with others. Most of all, he says, it’s shown him that no matter what dementia stole from his dad, he always remained just that, his dad.

Tony mentions his work with the Exeter branch of Dementia Action Alliance. The alliance has just moved from dementiaaction.org.uk (the website I gave) to nationaldementiaaction.org.uk, though all relevant information can still be found on the old website. You can buy Tony’s cartoon book Take Care, Son: The Story of my Dad and his Dementia from Amazon. And, as ever, for more help and support for anyone affected by dementia you can visit dementiauk.org and alzheimers.org.uk



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Creative from the tip of his head to his northern roots – he was born in Blackpool – cartoonist Tony Husband shows no sign of letting up as he approaches his seventies. His spare, witty drawings have appeared in virtually all of our national newspapers and magazines, and following the death of his dad Ron in 2011 Tony has turned his considerable wit and skill to raising awareness of dementia.

Ron lived with vascular dementia for his last few years and in this podcast Tony tells me what his dad’s experience has taught him about the power of creativity, humour and music to connect with others. Most of all, he says, it’s shown him that no matter what dementia stole from his dad, he always remained just that, his dad.

Tony mentions his work with the Exeter branch of Dementia Action Alliance. The alliance has just moved from dementiaaction.org.uk (the website I gave) to nationaldementiaaction.org.uk, though all relevant information can still be found on the old website. You can buy Tony’s cartoon book Take Care, Son: The Story of my Dad and his Dementia from Amazon. And, as ever, for more help and support for anyone affected by dementia you can visit dementiauk.org and alzheimers.org.uk



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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07/08/20 • 46 min

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Well I Know Now with Pippa Kelly - Kitty Norton

Kitty Norton

Well I Know Now with Pippa Kelly

Kitty Norton describes herself as a former “just about everything – from non-profits arts administrator to cabaret performer to post-production professional to crappiest daughter of the year award-winner for more than forty years”.

She forfeited that last accolade when, six years after her mum was diagnosed with vascular dementia, and following the sudden death of her dad, she gave up her job with NBC in Los Angeles to move back to Oregon so that she and her sister could provide their mum with the best possible dementia care.

To get her through this unplanned turn in her career, Kitty started a blog called Stumped Town Dementia. The blog brought her a temporary escape from dementia as well as countless virtual caregiver friends from all over the world who supported her with their understanding comments, emails and Zoom dates.

When her mum died in 2021, Kitty decided she wanted to meet the virtual friends who had become so very important to her as she cared for her mum and, in her words, “Sit out on a summer’s night, open a couple of bottles of wine, and find healing in the camaraderie of a fellow dementia caregiver”.

She then went and did just that. The result is an incredible 90 minute film charting the 75 hundred miles and 27 states that Kitty covered in 26 days. Wine, Women and Dementia has already been garlanded with awards. It’s produced by some serious professionals and features caregivers Kitty encountered through her blog, including former Well I Know Now guest and host of Daughterhood, the Podcast, Rosanne Corcoran.

Like Stumped Town Dementia, Wine, Women and Dementia pulls no punches. Its protagonists, the caregivers, are strong, articulate women with fire (and possibly the odd drop of rose or Californian white) in their belly. It’s a rollicking, funny, sad, informative, supportive must-watch for all family caregivers, for policy makers and anyone remotely interested in dementia – or perhaps, simply for everyone.

You can find information on when Kitty’s film will be available here in the UK at the website https://www.winewomenanddementia.com/ and you can find her blog at https://www.stumpedtowndementia.com/

Wine, Women and Dementia will be available online in support of Dementia Action Week, May 13-19. Registration is free or, if you are able to support the film's continued outreach to family carers, a donation would be very welcome.



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kitty Norton describes herself as a former “just about everything – from non-profits arts administrator to cabaret performer to post-production professional to crappiest daughter of the year award-winner for more than forty years”.

She forfeited that last accolade when, six years after her mum was diagnosed with vascular dementia, and following the sudden death of her dad, she gave up her job with NBC in Los Angeles to move back to Oregon so that she and her sister could provide their mum with the best possible dementia care.

To get her through this unplanned turn in her career, Kitty started a blog called Stumped Town Dementia. The blog brought her a temporary escape from dementia as well as countless virtual caregiver friends from all over the world who supported her with their understanding comments, emails and Zoom dates.

When her mum died in 2021, Kitty decided she wanted to meet the virtual friends who had become so very important to her as she cared for her mum and, in her words, “Sit out on a summer’s night, open a couple of bottles of wine, and find healing in the camaraderie of a fellow dementia caregiver”.

She then went and did just that. The result is an incredible 90 minute film charting the 75 hundred miles and 27 states that Kitty covered in 26 days. Wine, Women and Dementia has already been garlanded with awards. It’s produced by some serious professionals and features caregivers Kitty encountered through her blog, including former Well I Know Now guest and host of Daughterhood, the Podcast, Rosanne Corcoran.

Like Stumped Town Dementia, Wine, Women and Dementia pulls no punches. Its protagonists, the caregivers, are strong, articulate women with fire (and possibly the odd drop of rose or Californian white) in their belly. It’s a rollicking, funny, sad, informative, supportive must-watch for all family caregivers, for policy makers and anyone remotely interested in dementia – or perhaps, simply for everyone.

You can find information on when Kitty’s film will be available here in the UK at the website https://www.winewomenanddementia.com/ and you can find her blog at https://www.stumpedtowndementia.com/

Wine, Women and Dementia will be available online in support of Dementia Action Week, May 13-19. Registration is free or, if you are able to support the film's continued outreach to family carers, a donation would be very welcome.



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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04/03/24 • 48 min

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Well I Know Now with Pippa Kelly - Ian McMillan, Tony Husband, Ian Beesley

Ian McMillan, Tony Husband, Ian Beesley

Well I Know Now with Pippa Kelly

This week’s guests are three highly creative, very successful men who are on a mission to help those with dementia lead happier, easier, more fulfilled lives.

Their latest collaboration is a colourful one with a powerful past that stretches back to the 18th century when trades unions were illegal and women’s votes were a long way off.

They are: the Bard of Barnsley aka Ian McMillan, a man with so many titles it’s difficult to know which to choose, but I’ve plumped for poet, comic & broadcaster; internationally acclaimed photographer Ian Beesley; and last but by no means least, one of the UK’s most prolific & best-loved cartoonists, not to mention previousWell I Know Now guest, Tony Husband.

They joined me to chat about the The Unfurlings, a series of richly & traditionally embellished banners which they created with people living with dementia to illustrate the best – & worst – aspects of how we as a country and a society treat those with the condition.

Brought together in 2018 through a series of what sound like fairly riotous workshops in Exeter, the trio – along with people with dementia – compiled comments, poems, cartoons & photographs to help the public better understand what it’s really like to live with the condition.

And in that same year, the first banner was created with Yorkshire dementia & empowerment project, or DEEP, who were campaigning for those living with dementia to be better served by public transport. The Right to a Grand Day Out, as it’s called with a nod to Wallace & Gromit, was unfurled in the middle of the rush hour at York station, with Ian McMillan reading his poems. Which is altogether a wonderful image.

Many more banners followed – from the Young Dementia Leeds Cottingley Crew marching forward together against dementia to the Budding Friends Allotment Project in Exeter digging for memory & growing stories, the Hamari Yaadeen South Asian dementia café in Leeds & Bradford’s Face It Together group who work with local businesses to make facilities such as cash machines more accessible.

What links them all is colour, humour, understanding, warmth, local knowledge & a sense of shared history. Banners traditionally represented hope for the future, they showed what ordinary people could achieve when they united in a common cause.



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week’s guests are three highly creative, very successful men who are on a mission to help those with dementia lead happier, easier, more fulfilled lives.

Their latest collaboration is a colourful one with a powerful past that stretches back to the 18th century when trades unions were illegal and women’s votes were a long way off.

They are: the Bard of Barnsley aka Ian McMillan, a man with so many titles it’s difficult to know which to choose, but I’ve plumped for poet, comic & broadcaster; internationally acclaimed photographer Ian Beesley; and last but by no means least, one of the UK’s most prolific & best-loved cartoonists, not to mention previousWell I Know Now guest, Tony Husband.

They joined me to chat about the The Unfurlings, a series of richly & traditionally embellished banners which they created with people living with dementia to illustrate the best – & worst – aspects of how we as a country and a society treat those with the condition.

Brought together in 2018 through a series of what sound like fairly riotous workshops in Exeter, the trio – along with people with dementia – compiled comments, poems, cartoons & photographs to help the public better understand what it’s really like to live with the condition.

And in that same year, the first banner was created with Yorkshire dementia & empowerment project, or DEEP, who were campaigning for those living with dementia to be better served by public transport. The Right to a Grand Day Out, as it’s called with a nod to Wallace & Gromit, was unfurled in the middle of the rush hour at York station, with Ian McMillan reading his poems. Which is altogether a wonderful image.

Many more banners followed – from the Young Dementia Leeds Cottingley Crew marching forward together against dementia to the Budding Friends Allotment Project in Exeter digging for memory & growing stories, the Hamari Yaadeen South Asian dementia café in Leeds & Bradford’s Face It Together group who work with local businesses to make facilities such as cash machines more accessible.

What links them all is colour, humour, understanding, warmth, local knowledge & a sense of shared history. Banners traditionally represented hope for the future, they showed what ordinary people could achieve when they united in a common cause.



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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04/20/21 • 41 min

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Well I Know Now with Pippa Kelly - Karen Penny, fundraiser extraordinaire

Karen Penny, fundraiser extraordinaire

Well I Know Now with Pippa Kelly

Karen Penny is a powerhouse, a force of nature, a walking Wonder Woman. Over the last two and a half years she’s covered ten and a half thousand miles, got through ten pairs of boots, ten hats, one thousand custard creams, three birthdays and two wedding anniversaries. And single-handedly raised £126,000 – and counting – for Alzheimer’s Research UK. I’m not sure which is the more staggering really – the ten and half thousand mile trek or the £126,000 she’s raised. Either way, it’s an extraordinary feat. Excuse the pun.

Karen Penny has traversed the whole of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales including over 110 of their islands. She says walking’s in her bones, and so when she saw the effects on both her mother-in-law Alma and father-in-law Kingsley of their vascular and Alzheimer’s disease she decided to put her best foot forward to raise awareness of dementia. On 14 January 2019, three years after Kingsley died, the 56-year-old retired legal professional set out from her home in Pennard on the south Gower peninsular with a 20kg knapsack strapped to her back.

Just over a year later the pandemic struck, the country was placed under lock down and she was forced to alter her plans, returning home before setting off in permissible directions.

Karen says the darkest months were in Northern Scotland. “Part of the learning curve has been learning to cope with loneliness,” she says. “There are days that have been very hard, when you wake up questioning ‘why am I doing this, it’s hideous outside and I haven’t seen a soul for days”.

But she persevered, powered on by the support of hundreds of people she met on the walk, some of whom were living with Alzheimer’s, and some of whom joined her for a few miles.



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Karen Penny is a powerhouse, a force of nature, a walking Wonder Woman. Over the last two and a half years she’s covered ten and a half thousand miles, got through ten pairs of boots, ten hats, one thousand custard creams, three birthdays and two wedding anniversaries. And single-handedly raised £126,000 – and counting – for Alzheimer’s Research UK. I’m not sure which is the more staggering really – the ten and half thousand mile trek or the £126,000 she’s raised. Either way, it’s an extraordinary feat. Excuse the pun.

Karen Penny has traversed the whole of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales including over 110 of their islands. She says walking’s in her bones, and so when she saw the effects on both her mother-in-law Alma and father-in-law Kingsley of their vascular and Alzheimer’s disease she decided to put her best foot forward to raise awareness of dementia. On 14 January 2019, three years after Kingsley died, the 56-year-old retired legal professional set out from her home in Pennard on the south Gower peninsular with a 20kg knapsack strapped to her back.

Just over a year later the pandemic struck, the country was placed under lock down and she was forced to alter her plans, returning home before setting off in permissible directions.

Karen says the darkest months were in Northern Scotland. “Part of the learning curve has been learning to cope with loneliness,” she says. “There are days that have been very hard, when you wake up questioning ‘why am I doing this, it’s hideous outside and I haven’t seen a soul for days”.

But she persevered, powered on by the support of hundreds of people she met on the walk, some of whom were living with Alzheimer’s, and some of whom joined her for a few miles.



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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10/27/21 • 49 min

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FAQ

How many episodes does Well I Know Now with Pippa Kelly have?

Well I Know Now with Pippa Kelly currently has 57 episodes available.

What topics does Well I Know Now with Pippa Kelly cover?

The podcast is about Health & Fitness and Podcasts.

What is the most popular episode on Well I Know Now with Pippa Kelly?

The episode title 'Suzy Webster' is the most popular.

What is the average episode length on Well I Know Now with Pippa Kelly?

The average episode length on Well I Know Now with Pippa Kelly is 48 minutes.

How often are episodes of Well I Know Now with Pippa Kelly released?

Episodes of Well I Know Now with Pippa Kelly are typically released every 7 days.

When was the first episode of Well I Know Now with Pippa Kelly?

The first episode of Well I Know Now with Pippa Kelly was released on Jun 8, 2020.

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