Watching the jubilee concert, memories of my previous life, something my wee mum has lost

Hi

Well my wee mum is tucked up in bed and I am sitting alone in my room watching the concert live from London Its quite emotional ,as I shut my previous life out mostly in order to concentrate on life now caring for my mum, but tonight lots of memories came flooding back, I have toured with quite a few of the artists on stage, Tom Jones, kylie, Annie Lennox, Elton and a few more in fact I was worked on  the concert put together in new York  by Paul McCartney after 9/11 Now we sit alone slipping each day closer to a poverty of life and all to often a poverty of understanding and care .But I am lucky I have memories firmly implanted in my mind ,good and bad ,something that has been taken from my mum by this cruel and tragic illness but not  from me I have the greatness of my mum firmly implanted in my memory, heart and soul ,I might not be touring with bands anymore, I might be sad and lonely, and I might be poor, Tonight I sit with a real superstar, her name is Joan whitelaw

Tommy on tour  

Link to filmed interview on Scotland Toinght a few weeks ago

link to interview Scotland Tonight - Dementia Crisis

Dementia has been described as the greatest health and social crisis of the century.

More than 80,000 people in Scotland have the condition, with the number expected to double over the next 25 years.

Scotland Tonight looked at the experiences of Tommy Whitelaw, a campaigner who cares for his mum Joan  who sufferes from  Vascualr dementia.

In a studio discussion, he was joined by Professor June Andrews, the director of Stirling University's Dementia Services Development Centre and Simon Hodgson, the director of Carers Scotland.

Dementia awareness thinking about walking Glasgow to London next year to collect more life stories

Hi

Last year I launched my campaign with a walk round Scottish cities to raise awareness and collect life stories, I have been overwhelmed by the amazing response to this campaign ,I am thinking about walking from Glasgow to London next June to raise awareness and collect more life stories or even a relay of carers walking through towns and cities much like the Olympic torch handing over letters and life stories to the next town /city to be carried forward ,this would be great to get volunteers and carer /dementia organizations  who do great work  all involved ,working together, working as one  to raise awareness and help tell the story of living with and caring for a loved one .its jus an idea at this point ,but then so was my walk round Scotland a year and a half ago

Tommy

Thank you www.chill4us.com for the great support over the last year and for including my campaign in you’re carers newspaper

Hi 

A big thanks  to Wendy and all at chill4us carers for including and updating on my campaign in their carers newspaper  ,Wendy and all the team along with doing the great work they do have taken time to promote and support my campaign on quite a few occasions ,I am truly grateful for their help and support

You can get more details on the article and all they do at the link below

http://chill4us.com/news/  We Care for Carers

Tommy

A year of campaigning on Wednesday, with thanks to all who helped

Hi  

This Wednesday June 6^th will mark a year to the day since I launched my campaign to collect life stories with a walk round Scottish towns and Cities

Much has happened over the last year I have met many obstacles and disappointments but mostly I have been overwhelmed and inspired. There are  far to many amazing things and people to mention, so I would like to thank everyone who has sent me a life story,  have inspired me when we have met ,invited me to talk at groups or events, invited me to their homes, share publicized  or re –tweeted my campaign and to all the people who took time to listen to us about dementia and caring, I would also like to mention the amazing people who do great work in supporting people facing dementia and carers like me ,I feel we should celebrate good help and practice as I believe this will inspire others to follow .one thing is for sure this  campaign to raise awareness will continue this year  and be even  stronger than the last ,so thank you to all for the support and especially my wee mum Joan, this is her campaign not mine. so I will leave you with my personal reason for raising awareness  on June 6^th last year I had a photo taken walking with my mum to launch my campaign, for the last month my mum has been unable to walk, my heart is broken by dementia but not my spirit and the one strong message I will leave you with is my mum is not just  a wee woman with dementia or an illness

Her name is Joan whitelaw she is my mum  

Alzheimer Scotland conference, I will be outside handing out leaflets about my campaign as I can’t get a ticket

Good Evening

If you are attending the Alzheimer Scotland conference in a few weeks, I hope you will stop off and say hello on the way in, I will be outside with leaflets about my campaign I had requested a ticket from them to get in but have had no reply from anyone and have now been told it’s full and there is no space I have 4 hours cover that day and will be outside from doors opening till my cover runs out I hope you will stop off and say hello and have a chat

Thanks

Tommy

Dementia and Caring, it’s not a petition it’s not a protest it’s our life story

Good Morning

I hope everyone is having a peaceful long bank holiday weekend, this Wednesday June 6^th will be a year to the day I started my campaign to raise awareness on both Dementia and Caring .This was never a petition or a protest ,for me its was a cry for help. As my mum struggled with all that dementia brings I as a son struggled and fell apart beside her

So I picked myself up and decided to try and find out how others coped and launched a campaign not to raise money but to ask other to share their experiences GOOD or BAD .IT SADDENS ME TO SAY MOST PEOPLE WHERE FACING GREATER STRUGGLES THE ME .To date I have received hundreds of life stories, met with hundred of carers and families, I have cried, laughed been shocked and inspired by the people I have met and letters/e-mails sent to me I still firmly believe in my heart that sharing our experiences with the powers that be, the real story on all that dementia brings is the best way to bring more understanding and help

I feel positive about the people in government, local authorities NHS who are reading and paying attention to all the correspondence sent to me. The truth is our lives in our words without guidance, its impossible to ignore .isn’t it?

TOMMY