At the heart of Sir Al’s speech was his account of caring for his wife Rosemary, who died from vascular dementia in 2022. “I’ve got the T-shirt,” he declared and described the key experience of navigating the dementia system, lack of support after diagnosis, absence of care planning, difficulty at that time of finding compassionate care homes, the burden on family carers and the frustration with bureaucratic medicine. “Where are the commissioning bodies here today?” he asked. “Surely they should be hearing what we all feel is important for dementia care.”
He went on to emphasise that families often feel abandoned and systems are fragmented, yet compassionate individuals exist.
He described compassion simply as “Putting yourselves in the shoes of others and doing something about it.” And urged each audience member to ‘seize the day’ and take some action to improve the care experience for those with dementia.
Guest of honour at the event was Lord Lieutenant Dame Sarah Troughton, who addressed the conference and retold her own experience of how her father lived with dementia but that it brought a very warm and loving side out in him.
The audience was also privileged to hear from Alan a former BA pilot living with dementia, in conversation with Elizabeth Bartlett he said strong emotional memories of his flights around the world stay with him. This has enabled him to still be a regular volunteer at the Boscombe Down Aviation Museum where he tells visitors intricate details of the aircraft on display. It was through this volunteering work that he received the Kings Award.
Alan urged everyone living with dementia not to withdraw from society but to use the ‘gifts’ dementia can bring.
Nigel Jenner representing Alzheimer’s Disease International (ADI), an international federation of Alzheimer and dementia associations from around the world, told those assembled that every three seconds someone in the world is diagnosed with dementia so by 2050, 139 million people worldwide will have it. He too highlighted the inequality of access to care and treatment at every level and urged everyone to do what they can to hammer on the doors of power to get the disease higher up the agenda. A perfect opportunity exists on Monday 21 September 2026 – World Alzheimer’s Day, prominent buildings around the world will be lit up in purple. He called on Salisbury to light up the Cathedral in purple on 21 September.
Delegates were invited to attend various breakout groups for the rest of the afternoon to take part in relevant discussions pertaining to their own needs.
Throughout the event, the message was clear: it is indeed possible to live well with dementia when communication is effective, and the needs of individuals and their caregivers are prioritised in service delivery. The conference served as a catalyst for these essential conversations, and SaSS is committed to building on this foundation. We are already working with established partners within a growing network which will now be working to find ways to support people living with dementia in the way Sir Al so eloquently advocated.