Tommyontour the Next Steps,and Some Thoughts ….

For the last  5 years I have been caring for my mum Joan who has vascular Dementia ,as my mum has struggled to cope with all Dementia brings, I as her son have struggled to witness and keep pace with this illness and her needs .For the last year I have been going out during my 22 hours a week respite cover  raising awareness, collecting letters ,meeting carers and families along with many professional ,I believe we have to tackle issues and the need for more help ,but we also have to promote the great work being done by people both in the care and voluntary sector .it important we promote and celebrate good practice ,this will encourage others to follow and for families and carers to see the benefits in accepting the good help that may be available in the area they live, we all have dreams and visions of the help we would like and need .For me its tragedy not knowing about or having access to the help that is available ,Dementia, Caring any form of Caring is to difficult to do alone.To achieve this we have to start by getting all the funded National Carer and Dementia Groups and Charities round the table to work together one of my disappointments on my journey is that they seem in completion with each other and that is not healthy, I have had many offers to join with national groups but I wont, it becomes their manifesto and not the carers .Its time for a recognized group of Voluntary Carers not connected to any National Organization or Political Party  to be formed by the Government to bring them, as I have tried to do with my life stories ,the true story on both Dementia and Caring without prejudice or influence from  others ,a group of volunteers who’s  only mission is to take the true story to local Authorities and Government on how we live and feel I feel disheartened when I hear people with no caring  experience describing how we live and feel ,this should be done by carers and people who have cared in the past ,only we truly know how to speak about our lives  

Tommy