Susan Elkin from Lewisham is urging everyone to join her in supporting Alzheimer’s Society’s appeal by wearing their Forget Me Not badge or fundraising to help provide life-changing support for people affected by dementia.
The charity’s Forget Me Not Appeal running throughout May aims to raise funds for the charity, but also send a message to everyone living with dementia that they have not been forgotten.
Susan’s husband, Nick, received a dementia diagnosis in 2017 and died two years later aged 74.
They celebrated their golden wedding anniversary four months before his death and Susan will be wearing her badge in honour of Nick. Although Susan acknowledges the disease has a devastating impact on families, she urges relatives to face their loved one’s dementia symptoms head on rather than live in denial.
She explained: “It helped me facing the truth, knowing it was a degenerative disease that would ultimately end in his death. I see lots of people in denial, unable to talk or think about the future and that approach of kicking the can down the road does not help.
“Long before his diagnosis, he was driving normally but began struggling to park the car. He would get us to our destination but get out at the end and tell me to park it and at the time I thought it was amusing, but I should have taken that sign more seriously.
“When Nick’s driving licence was revoked after his memory assessment, the thought of losing independence affected him more mentally than the diagnosis itself. Much later he mistook me for a strange woman getting into his bed.
“We worked together and I began getting phone calls from clients complaining about inaccurate invoices and it transpired that Nick was calculating wrong which sparked concern. He was so meticulous before so it was very unlike him.”
Although Susan looked after Nick herself with the support of family and privately hired carers, she said there is little official support for people when their dementia progresses to the latter stages, but hopes people turn to Alzheimer’s Society in their time of crisis.
Susan wrote a weekly blog over the 28 months between Nick’s dementia diagnosis and funeral charting their journey which is a mix of funny, frustrated, sardonic and sad. It has now been turned into a book named The Alzheimer’s Diaries.
Alzheimer’s Society London Area Manager, Jackie Swapp added: “There are 79,000 people living with dementia across the capital and too many are facing it alone. This May, we are asking people to wear a Forget Me Not badge in honour of someone special and help people living with dementia get the life-changing support they need.
“By wearing a badge and supporting the appeal we are showing people affected by dementia that we understand and stand with them. Our services are a lifeline and have been used over four and half million times in the last year. We support the people living with dementia and their families through some of the hardest and most frightening times.”
There are a variety of ways to get involved:
Buy and wear a Forget Me Not Badge
Volunteer to collect at your local Morrisons store for two or three hours to raise vital funds.
Become a Dementia Friend and learn how to help people living with dementia in your community
Leave a message on the Forget Me Not dedication page in honour of a loved one or share your memories on social media using the hashtag #ForgetMeNotAppeal
Alzheimer’s Society has also joined forces with Alzheimer’s Scotland and Morrisons supermarket chain to ensure that the Forget Me Not Appeal reaches every community in the UK. Money raised in Morrisons stores in England and Wales will go to Alzheimer’s Society and money raised in Morrisons stores in Scotland will go to Alzheimer Scotland.
The charity will also lead Dementia Action Week from 15 – 21 May, when it will focus on diagnosis and encourage people experiencing dementia symptoms to seek help.
To find out more about Forget Me Not Appeal visit alzheimers.org.uk/forgetmenot
