‘We shouldn’t hold ourselves back’
Feyi Raimi-abraham became an entrepreneur when she was furloughed, founding The Black Dementia Company, which was inspired by caring for her mother, Verona.
I’ve always enjoyed the company of older people. Even as a child, I’d spend a lot of my time with older aunties and I loved listening to them telling stories. Perhaps that’s why naturally took on most of the caring duties for my mum as she aged. My father passed away in 2009, so it felt important to me to have my mother close by. For the past 10 years, we’ve lived not far from each other in south London and I’ve always helped her with shopping and jobs around the house.
A few years ago, I noticed things weren’t quite right with Mum. She became forgetful and distant and
I knew it was more than just old age. So, when we got the formal diagnosis of dementia towards the end of 2019, it didn’t surprise me, though that didn’t make it any less devastating.
In May 2020, I was furloughed from my job as a community education co-ordinator at a national charity. I spent much of my time looking after Mum and everything seemed to suddenly speed up in terms of the care she needed. I noticed that she was struggling with the puzzles I bought her. It was upsetting to see her become frustrated, so I bought a notebook and started creating my own crosswords with clues about Trinidad, where she’d grown up, that would help her reminisce.
SETTING UP THE BUSINESS
Mum had always enjoyed art, so I tried to find colouring books for her. I looked at dementia aid websites, but nothing seemed to be right for her. The pictures were of milkmen doing their rounds in London or seaside photos of 1950s Devon that I knew wouldn’t resonate. They were far from her Trinidadian heritage. No matter how hard I searched, I couldn’t find anything Afro-caribbean on these websites.
I’d read a lot about dementia, and it was clear that people benefit so much when they can connect with things from their own backgrounds. That gave me an idea to get some Afro-caribbean dementia aids made professionally. Surely if I needed them, other people would, too. I was hesitant about turning my idea into a business because there were so many risks and hurdles to overcome, particularly in terms of the cost, but something in the back of my mind was urging me to go for it.
I started researching how to get colouring and puzzle books made and, last August, I commissioned a freelance illustrator to do the drawings for a set of tropical-themed colouring books. I also bought the rights to a photo of man on a bamboo raft taken in the Caribbean in 1963, which I had made into a set of jigsaw puzzles. I set up a website, calling it The Black Dementia Company so people would know it was designed for anyone with an Afro-caribbean heritage. The response was incredible. Carers of people with dementia and Alzheimer’s started to get in touch. One photo of a group of elderly people using my colouring books in a care home was particularly heartwarming. I listened to feedback from customers about what they wanted, and now our range includes seven different jigsaw puzzles, two colouring books and a wordsearch book.
Out of all the feedback, the way my venture has helped my own mother has been the greatest reward. Seeing the difference it makes, the smile on her face when she sees something she can connect with, is incredible.
Although I’ve now returned to my charity job, I know that my future lies with The Black Dementia Company. I passionately believe in just going for whatever big life change you’re thinking about. We shouldn’t hold ourselves back.
You can find more information at theblackdementiacompany.com
Seeing the difference I’ve made is incredible