Only Connect
I’ve always had a soft spot for John Humphrys, who retired from R4’s Today programme this week after 32 years in the role. Perhaps it’s because he’s a Welshman and I undertook my postgraduate journalistic training in Cardiff or it could be that, like him or not, he’s...
My Inspirations
Of course dementia is terrible - it's cruel and so far incurable; it's the condition that those over 55 fear most. But as a campaigner and writer I feel lucky because the people I meet - those living with dementia, their families and carers, and others involved in...
Music and Dementia
In my second vlog I share my passion for music and dementia with my childhood friend and distinguished broadcaster Sue Saville. Join us as we chat about the final precious moments I shared with my mum, why music has such power to connect with people even...
My first video podcast
Welcome to my very first video podcast - or vlog! It's the introductory episode of an occasional series and in it I chat to my childhood friend, distinguished broadcaster and journalist Sue Saville, about my family's dementia story. (Best viewed, if...
Our Dementia Choir
At one point in BBC 1's Our Dementia Choir, the wife of 67-year-old Chris, who is living with the condition, says to Line of Duty’s Vicky McClure, “What you’ve given Chris is unbelievable”. And it is. For Chris’s rare type of frontal temporal dementia affects his...
The Art of Living
What do you see when you look at this painting? A couple in the foreground who look a bit bored in what looks to be a gallery or artist’s studio? Or perhaps your gaze goes straight to the collection of impressive looking busts and the striking white horse which, it...
Carers
This week seems to be all about carers for me. I opened my inbox to find an email from one of my oldest friends. Her mum, diagnosed with dementia the year before, died last autumn aged 85 and now her elderly dad, a partially-sighted diabetic, has developed dementia...
Back to Basics
The BBC has been told to go back to basics and concentrate on public service broadcasting if it wants to survive. James Kirkup, director of the Social Market Foundation think tank, hailed the corporation for helping to make Britain not just a country but a nation,...
Togetherness
There was a great Twitter exchange about the term “service users” recently. Big Ian Donaghy, aka @trainingcarers, asked if anybody else hated the phrase as much as he did. “It’s like they had a contest to find the best word for people we care for and the 31st best...
Only Connect
The other day I caught a mesmerising Radio 4 programme on the history of delusions. In it, Sophie (not her real name) related what it was like to suffer from the traumatising belief that she was dead. She experienced severe depression and a numbing sense of...
