Ellen Bothwick brings honesty, empathy and humour to Alzheimer's Support's carer training sessions, as she shares her experiences as a family carer, encouraging conversations and the development of lasting friendships. 

I enjoyed sitting shoulder to shoulder with other people who understood what life was like caring for someone with Alzheimer's.

Attending Alzheimer's Support's training course for carers came at just the right time for me. My mother had just moved in to our home a couple of weeks before. Not only was the course interesting and useful, I also enjoyed sitting shoulder to shoulder with other people who understood what life was like caring for someone with Alzheimer's.

This was six years ago now, and I have kept in touch with two people from the group and have become good friends with one of them.

Through my family experience and from what I knew from my job working for care home selection, I was approached and asked to become one of the trainers on the course. I now facilitate the session on care at home and the evaluation of homecare.

During the sessions, I am able to talk through the complete journey I took, helping my mother from the early signs of her dementia through to requiring support from occasion carers, on to living in assisted-living accommodation, arranging packages of care when she moved in with us, right through to finding the right care home for her, as her illness progressed. 

I think the people attending the course can see I’ve travelled the road they are currently on. I don’t pretend that it isn’t tough, but I show how it can be possible to navigate if you know how and where to access help. 

Find out more about the Training Course for Carers

Volunteer with us