…left his body on 12th July 2015.
Sarjan (aka Tim Lloyd-Yeates) died at his home in Portishead (near Bristol in UK) with his loving family, his wife Chiara and daughter Khezia by his side. He had been struggling with leukaemia for some time. Thirty days in from having received a bone marrow transplant he contracted a chest infection which made the transplant fail. Sarjan was 47.
He was the Founder and Executive Director of Alive! Activities, a charity dedicated to improving the quality of life of older people in care; giving them choices, supporting networks of friends and family, and facilitating hobbies and interests, learning, and meaningful activities. His groundbreaking and inspirational work is now represented in 350 care homes. Sarjan’s work included giving talks at various Dementia Conferences as well as on UK Government level.
Sarjan took sannyas at ‘Leela One’ in Dorset in the late 1990’s. He was a wicked DJ and played both internationally and in the UK. He met his wife Chiara at Osho Leela where he also DJ’d for quite a few years with his decks and vinyls. He was a favourite with the crowd! There he later helped Dhyano with his empowering Aflame weekends which involved a firewalk. Sarjan was the one responsible for making the in-depth Health & Safety Report for the firewalks!
Outside of work, Sarjan loved to kayak around Bristol harbour and further afield. He ran the Bristol and London Marathons, he was part of the Bristol Dynamic Meditation Team on Sundays and he loved animals. He had many cats, dogs and chickens at his family home. He also hosted a Radio show on Bristol’s BCFM Silver Sounds for older people on a Friday morning.
Sarjan was and continues to be an inspiration for all of his friends both in and out of Alive! and his light continues to shine on! He was a gentle and loving man with a big, big heart (and brightly coloured shirts!) and everyone who ever met him loved him.
The funeral will take place in Bristol on Monday, 27th July. A celebration is also planned.
Credit to Mala and Sharmi
Tall Tim
The inspiration for setting up Alive! came to him while watching the life of his mother-in-law Shirley come to a sad end in a care home. This from an article about Sarjan’s work:
“I was 35 at the time and it left me with a burning sense that everyone, especially me, could have done better. It fired me up and stayed with me.”
Over the next four years he gave up his City job and, using the small inheritance that Shirley had left them, the family travelled to India and France, where they lived for four years. All the while he was reflecting on his mother-in-law’s bad experience and learning everything he could about health and social care policy in the UK, and about dementia.
Once back in England, Sarjan put his newfound knowledge into practice. He became the general manager of a company facilitating music, poetry, quizzes and physical activities in various care settings – and he found his vocation.
“For the first time in my life I felt that I was in a place where I belonged. I discovered I had a talent and a desire to connect with older people and those living with dementia.”
When the company franchised the model, Sarjan decided to leave. He was ‘as skint as a church mouse’ and had a young family to provide for, but he had a vision. He didn’t view the work he was doing as a business, but as social service.
He started phoning care homes in the south-west and as soon as one of them expressed interest, he armed himself with a wheelie bag full of song sheets, quizzes, poems and a CD player and set off on public transport to meet them. Once inside, he engaged with the residents, many of whom had dementia, by kneeling down so that he was at their eye level and using non-verbal methods of communication to gain their confidence. Every home he visited in those early days remains a client – and everyone in them calls him Tall Tim.
Three years into this form of private practice, Alive! became a registered charity. It now has ten staff and 15 presenters skilled in the Arts and non-verbal communication techniques who, between them, facilitate thousands of activity sessions and have trained 500 individuals in 70 care settings to deliver the sort of respectful, stimulating and person-centred care so sadly lacking for Shirley. Sarjan says training others to continue the work is vital; otherwise, the beneficial effects of the sessions are merely transitory.
In 2009 the story took another twist when he met a care home resident called Dorothy. She was confused and, seeking to calm her, he asked what one thing she would really like to do. When Dorothy said she wanted to see the Bay House Hotel in Scarborough, Sarjan thought of the iPhone he’d just bought. He took it from his pocket, typed in Google maps, found the hotel and showed it to her. Dorothy instantly began telling him, lucidly and fluently, all about this significant place from her past.
It was a light-bulb moment. “I had the first inkling of what the internet and intuitive touchscreen technology could do for older people.” A year later Sarjan and Andrew Morris launched Memory Apps for Dementia – a partnership that identifies and uses touchscreen technology to improve the lives of those with memory problems.
Now iPads form an essential part of Alive!’s work. “It’s the people in the room who have the knowledge. They hold the answer. It’s easy to get caught up in the activities – in Paint Pals or iPads for their own sake – but they are just tools, just a bridge to the person who has lost his or her energy or identity.”
The person – the individual – holds the key to everything that Sarjan, Alive! and Memory Apps set out to do. As he says, “Everyone is unique. Let’s stop pretending otherwise. How can you serve people if you don’t know who they are?”
aliveactivities.org – facebook.com/aliveactivities – memoryappsfordementia.org.uk – seewhatimean.co.uk
Tributes
Thinking back to my first meeting with Sarjan, it could be said that that experience sums up who he was and how he lived his life. I remember I was staying in a pine lodge at Osho Leela in Dorset, England and came in to find a very tall man sitting at the dining table surrounded by papers and files.
After a brief and somewhat logistically awkward hug (I’m not exactly short but Sarjan’s 6’6″ frame sometimes made me feel like a little kid when we hugged!), he introduced himself and said he was writing a risk assessment for fire walking (the UK’s first such document which was later published in the Guardian), and this is my point… In all the time I had the privilege of working with him, he was always encouraging others to take that step beyond their preconceived ideas of what might be possible, to move into a more authentic way of being and discover their greater potential, but at the same time he always kept an eye on ensuring they were covered… that they could take that unknown step with the confidence that whatever happened, they were supported and, above all, that they were loved.
Even in his most business focussed meetings either within Alive! or with other organisations, this beautiful man exuded love and brought love courageously to the forefront of everything he did. Little wonder then that the Alive! charity he founded in 2009 with the mission to improve the quality of life to our elders, has gone from strength to strength and now regularly brings a ray of love-light into the lives of over 7000 older people across the South-west of England.
I only met Sarjan in 2007 but over the years have heard many tales of his exploits. What has become clear is that he shone like a beacon of love wherever he went and whoever he was with, from his clubbing days as DJ TimSpin to advocating for the rights of older people in the House of Commons, from his impassioned work for Alive! to simply spending time with the family he loved so deeply.
In the days since he passed away, I have heard so many people sharing so many of their beautiful memories of Sarjan and, whether they had known him for years or had met him only once or twice, it is clear that his passion and compassion made a huge impression on everyone and I’m certain his light and love will continue to radiate in the hearts of those who knew him for a long time to come. For me, I feel such a deep gratitude to have have had the privilege of working alongside Sarjan for these past few years and I will be forever proud to be his friend.
Milarepa
So, so sad to hear of dear Sarjan’s passing, a very, very beautiful man and a dear friend. He gave so much of his time to helping others, a real saint among us. Sarjan, I love your courageous heart, always willing to listen and do good. I’m so happy you’ve been in my life. And you’re a wicked DJ too! I remember your fantastic sets at Puravida. I wish you such wonderful times wherever you are now. Much love,
Devaraj
Tim was simply one of the nicest blokes you could ever meet. As the impact of his tragic death hits home I realise that the time I spent with Tim throughout the 90s were some of the best times I (and Ellie, my wife) can remember. I will treasure the memories working with him (officially at TIS and unofficially starting On a Mission) and then spending most of our free time round each other’s houses, playing music (he was my bassist in my first band), or out on the town in Bristol. It is difficult to express how deeply I will miss him. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Chiara and Kezhia.
Adeybaby
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