Stephen Passfield

“After the second lockdown I was not sure what to do with myself, and to be honest I was feeling a bit down. I looked at the Wiltshire Council website for volunteering and saw this and another opportunity with a different charity. I talked to Annie (Beyond Dementia's dedicated volunteer manager) first and she went through the options here and the day clubs appealed. I come in every Friday and it is something I wouldn’t miss now.

“My mother had dementia and she was in a care home before she died, so I had had some experience of people with dementia as there were others there too that I saw.

“When I came to Mill Street I realised it was so different to that care home environment. With my mum I had tried to treat her as normal as possible, as a human being first and not to worry about the dementia too much. That doesn’t happen everywhere but it is what happens here. Everyone is respectful and we have a lot of laughs, it’s all in good humour and everyone does get on so well. Most of the other volunteers are women. Not all, but most and it is nice for the male club members to have a chap around to help them. The ladies are great too – I do get teased but it is all in good heart.

“I am aware that in the club most of the other volunteers are women, and that caring is often seen as traditionally women’s role but here the volunteer role is all about making connections and companionship. We have a group of men here on a Friday who particularly enjoy practical activities and I tend to support with that – it’s nice for the men to have another bloke to chat to - as well as getting involved in everything else that is going on."