“Fun, freedom and friends” – what better way of describing a perfect holiday for people living with dementia and past and present carers.
It’s how Jacqui summed up her much enjoyed October break in Llandudno provided by the Bradford group Pathways which supports those affected by young onset dementia.
Jacqui, who lives many miles away from Bradford, had only previously met other members of the group via Zoom meetings so she was understandably wary of how it would work out.
“But everyone was accepting of each other and there was such freedom to just be yourself. This was such a unique experience for me that I quickly relaxed and felt included. I had freedom to be myself and absolutely no pressure to do anything or explain myself. It was a deeply moving and healing experience.”
Chris who cares for her husband Gilly was also full of praise. She has enjoyed other holidays with Pathways but reckons this was the best by far.
“Wales was beautiful, the hotel amazing and the company second to none. We laughed we sang, we danced. There were a few tears but lots of smiles and some of us drank a lot of gin!
“Belonging to Pathways means I don’t have to apologise for the difficulties we sometimes have. I know he’s respected, understood and cared about and that he’ll be chatted to, laughed with and sung with. I can tell he’s happy and that makes me happy too.
“There’s always someone to talk to who totally understand how low you can get. There’s so much support from everyone because they’ve been through it themselves.”
Organiser extraordinaire of the group, Clare Mason, said they didn’t want the holiday to be too structured so people could decide for themselves how they spent their time. But craft activities were available for anyone feeling creative and there was an optional day trip to the village of Portmeirion, the magical setting for the 1960s classic TV series The Prisoner remembered with bafflement by many of the 20 holidaymakers.
The highlight of the week was The Charity Shop Challenge. With a budget of just £7 the task was to put together outfits with a Halloween theme from items bought from local charity shops and wear them to dinner on the last night of the holiday. The amazed looks on the faces of staff and other diners as witches, devils, ghosts and other scary characters took their seats soon turned to gales of laughter and a fun evening was enjoyed by all.
Mary said: “We had fun in lots of ways and it was lovely meeting people we’d just seen on Zoom. The hotel was great and the staff were so helpful’”
Alison agreed it was good to be with people not seen for over 18 months – or in a few cases ever – except on Zoom and have fun together. And best of all it was lovely to get away from home for a few days and have someone else cook delicious meals and do the clearing away and washing up.
Michael was a bit nervous before the holiday as he now has issues with being among many people inside as he can’t cope with too much noise which makes him feel confused.
“But this holiday has been the best thing for me, walking along the sea front at 6am then breakfast at 8am. And for a place I don’t know I found it easy to find my way around. I even found the great Orme tram, jumped on it and went to the top. And what a view. I definitely would go back.”
This coach and hotel holiday was a new venture for Pathways which for many years has provided supported holidays at a log cabin site in Derbyshire with a team of volunteers providing meals, outings and entertainment.
“Those holidays were great but this year we decided to have a complete change and for the first time stay in a hotel on the coast,” said Clare. “It was brilliant and we will certainly do it again.”
Written by Jenny from Pathways.
To find out more about Pathways please visit their group page https://www.dementiavoices.org.uk/group/pathways/
