4. Suzy Webster

07/01/20 • 39 min

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.

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3. Sally Knocker

Sally Knocker works tirelessly to enhance the lives of older people and those with dementia. I doubt she even sees it as work because she is so naturally compassionate and empathetic.

For her – as with other guests to whom I’ve spoken for this podcast – there is no them (those we are caring for or those with dementia) and us. There is just us. This ethos lies at the heart of all that Sally does. She is generous of both her time and her emotions and she is genuinely interested in other people. All other people.

This wonderfully engaging woman is perfectly suited to her work which, at the moment, is on behalf of an agency that partners with other care organisations to support those with dementia to live meaningful lives. They can be found at meaningfulcarematters.com.

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5. Tony Husband

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

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