The Multiplier was our turning point

By Ellie Robinson Carter

Hi! I’m Ellie, and I describe myself as a Creative Dementia Practitioner, Educator and Researcher. After losing my grandfather to vascular dementia in 2008, aged 16, I was all too familiar with the challenges experienced by people with dementia and their families. As grandad’s condition worsened, we increasingly experienced the challenges of remote caring, family dynamics, poor communication with support services, and, heartbreakingly, reaching crisis point where grandad died alone in a care home following a fall. I was acutely aware of the strain this put on my family, especially my mum, and I remember thinking: “surely it doesn’t have to be like this?” Since then, I’ve had the fire in my belly to make positive change happen, to advocate and empower people with dementia and their families, and bring a source of light to people in challenging times.

After leading a memory cafe in York as a student, on moving to Penryn for my Masters, I set up a memory cafe there along with the support of the local Mayor, Rotary and university. This started in 2015, and is still going today! Alongside this, I also created The Photobook Project which invites people with dementia and their communities to document their lived experiences under themes of their own choosing. Using single-use cameras, the project provides an accessible method through which people with dementia can document and share their stories, focusing on what is still possible when living with a diagnosis. You can see more about our work here.

A significant moment in the project’s journey was being selected as one of the 10 lucky ones to be enrolled in the inaugural Multiplier programme, which to this day I rave about and believe was a huge turning point for our project. With the carefully curated package of support – including interactive workshops on fundraising, storytelling and more, the opportunity to create a film about our work, and support from a carefully selected mentor – this opportunity was just what I needed to take our project to the next level. The cherry on top of this was receiving a grant to support our work, which enabled us to build on our progress with global majority communities and create an award winning film titled AMANZE, which has gone on to be shown at five international film festivals. This opportunity platformed our work and but The Photobook Project and our mission no only on the UK map but the international map too, leading to us being selected for the Starling Fellowship with Giving Tuesday – a unique fellowship for grassroots leaders from around the world to discover and share best practices for increasing generosity and driving systems change.

Following the guidance and support from The Multiplier, we set up the project as a Community Interest Company in 2022, and we are now proudly run by four Directors. We went on to employ a fantastic Creative Communication Officer through support from Real Ideas, and hosted an Erasmus student from Prague in the summer of 2023. This enabled us to host a number of exhibitions in the South West, such as at Exeter Phoenix, and led to more commissions with Newlyn Art Gallery and The Exchange in Penzance, Harbour House in Kingsbridge, and an international residency with Alzheimer Bulgaria with Every Dog Matters EU. Earlier this year, we were awarded funding from the EMPOWER Dementia Network+ with our longstanding Ambassador Ronald Amanze, the University of Hull, biggerhouse film and RVF Academy, exploring the power of participatory film and sound for people with dementia and using The Photobook method as a research tool. All told, we've now run 28 projects helping people living with dementia to feel connected, and part of a community.

Linked to this, I am currently undertaking a PhD by Published Works at the University of Hull, positioning The Photobook Project as an accessible creative research method for people with dementia, alongside its role as an intervention to support wellbeing and connection. I am eternally grateful to The Multiplier for all it has given The Photobook Project, and am very proud to be part of its legacy.