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Help the Aged in England.
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A lot of the help that my wife needs is with confidence-building and keeping a positive attitude. She can become very anxious and agitated. I keep an eye on her medication for epilepsy and osteoporosis.
'She has poor balance, a sensitivity to perfumes and food intolerances. It is sometimes very hard to relax as I keep a caring eye on things.
'It is very difficult for people to understand her problems – something visible like a broken leg gets immediate sympathy. Nothing is visible to indicate my wife’s problems.
'I pay £31 a week for a lady to come in once a week for two hours to give me a break. I have an interest in music and play guitar and keyboard. I had a group years ago when rock ‘n’ roll first came on the scene, but I never gave up my day job!
'I have been trying to get some financial support from the local council. It has taken four months to arrange and has been very frustrating. I had a backlog of invoices. The council wanted me to open a separate account for payments, but my bank wouldn’t do it. I would prefer the invoices to go direct to the council, but they wouldn’t agree to that. I can now send invoices to a third party arranged by the council for payment.'
Photography by Sam Mellish.
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