Not sure what day my retention of facts are very poor now which is making blogging difficult



this is Donna With her Dad looking after us takes time Donna has been all things to us
Attending to our forgetting how to use smart phones to keeping us cheerfully engaged in life
So her Dad and I was so pleased for my daughter Donna she was in Glasgow getting peer support
From carers like herself not older carers but ones still of working age this was thanks to Life Changes Trust funding she was at a conference in Glasgow RUN by CARERS FOR CARERS
They say it’s never too late I hope not as both Alan And I are wanting to get our Daughter back and leave assisting us to paid professionals ( we never know our relationship was changing or how much Donna Was supporting us ) we had no insight



Thank you Donna for Assisting the Scottish Dementia Alumni for 2 years while we found rooms for taking notes making phone calls you went above and beyond for us because you believed in getting our voices heard our needs met when no one else was listening
You helped me to remain campaigning on Sensory Challenges when I was not being supported you helped us to travel by coming with us

to maintain our gym our community life to do this I am trying to access Self Directed Support A thankless process as I have been told my case will be highly unlikely to get Self Directed Support in North Lanarkshire
But Alan and I are adamant that no more years of Donna’s life has to be given to supporting us She needs to get released to a normal life to be a daughter do the fun things reflect and see what direction her life her career should go
That’s why I support the Carers Conference cause At last some identification some validation for the 11years she has supported us she has on her own filled in forms took us to appointments and this year carried us both through the dreaded PIP forms
Yes this has taken a toll on her it’s too much to ask of any family but Donna is an only child so had to shoulder it alone
No body to share her load
Below is a photo of other carers who in the past have done what Donna has done but now their loved ones are in nursing homes or have passed away
Our Carers need help support don’t just pat them on the back and say they are doing a grand job
Or criticise their decision or say look after yourself when that means neglecting our care while they look after themselves as their are no systems in place to support Alan and I
Both my husband and I are sad that she had to give up her nursing carer to keep her parents functioning and in the community
No services were personal to our needs as young people with Dementia
If only we could have obtained Self Directed Support at the beginning and had the know how to purchased the help we needed then she might still have her nursing carer
Lots to learn lots to be fixed in Scotland for our Carers but this conference is a first step in the road to seeing the whole journey THE BEGINNING THE MIDDLE AND THE END
THANK YOU ALL CARER BOTH PAST AND PRESENT