THE Talk ‘Living with Dementia’ given by Chris Roberts and supported by his wife Jayne at the Clarence Hall, Crickhowell, on September 16 was a huge success. The event was organised and hosted by Suzan and Mike Alderton from Living with Dementia Society.

Chris was diagnosed with early onset dementia at the age of 50, he is now 56. Tim Jones from Llangattock talked of his experience filming the family over a period of 18 months for the BBC Panorama Documentary and how difficult it was for him at times not to help or interfere with what was being filmed.

The documentary, with no frills attached, recorded how dementia has affected the entire family. Tim edited the documentary and showed six minutes of the programme. It was extremely moving and showed all the trials and the heart break that Chris and his family have had to deal with and strategies they use to live life as full as possible. You could have heard a pin drop during the film. It was awe-inspiring.

Since Chris’s diagnosis the couple have dedicated their lives travelling the world giving talks on dementia. Chris spoke openly, honestly and with some humour of their challenges. Chris and Jayne want everyone to understand that dementia is not just memory loss but covers a whole range of problems, such as communication problems, perception, vision and even balance.

Chris explained that although he was naturally upset on the day he was diagnosed with dementia he soon realised that he was the same person as the day before that diagnosis. Nothing had changed. He decided he was not going to sit around becoming depressed and withdrawn from life he was going to take control of his dementia and make all decisions needed to be made for his future, hopefully alleviating some of the hard decisions that otherwise would be left to his wife and family.

Chris and Jayne’s goal is to make all towns dementia friendly and a place where people with dementia need not feel embarrassed, are helped, but not treated differently from anyone else. Chris’s talk ended in a standing ovation. When Tim turned to Chris during the standing ovation to say the applause was all for him, Chris just smiled and said, he felt embarrassed.

Jayne was amazed by the warmth and kindness of the people of Crickhowell, she said it was one of the best receptions they had ever had. Since the talk, so many people from Crickhowell have been offering to help in so many different ways. Ian Thomas from the Alzheimer’s Society is delighted how much good has come from the talk. Crickhowell is not only a beautiful town but a town you can feel proud to live.

Despite the last-minute change from the Dragon Inn Marquee to the Clarence Hall the entire Rowe family and staff (Helen and Phoebe) really pulled off an amazing transformation of the Hall. So thank you all for your hard work.

When the talk was initially spoken of, the organisers hoped to raise about £500.00. They had no intentions of a raffle until Paul Lowe proprietor of Bacchus Off Licence suggested a raffle and donated a Methuselah bottle of champagne. Soon other donations were generously given, so a huge ‘thank you’ to all who donated.

Living with Dementia’s cheque presentations took place at the Dragon Inn on November 17 at 11am. Sam Bolam received a cheque for £500 on behalf of Dementia Matters in Powys. Rhia Jones received a cheque for £1,000 on behalf of the Alzheimer’s Society. Stephanie Jones received a cheque for £1000 on behalf of Alzheimer’s Research UK.

£220 will be given towards the set up of a dementia café in Crickhowell. Living with Dementia Society hope to raise some more fund to go towards this project.

The Alzheimer’s Society is desperate to find more volunteers to become befrienders said Suzan, an Alzheimer’s befriender. If anyone is interest in this very rewarding position please contact Kate West 01874 712059 email: [email protected].