William & Faye's Story

'It can be very lonely just Bill and me, so the weekly phone calls, help me a lot.'

William, who is 82 years old and living with Alzheimer’s, lives in Hertford with his wife Faye.

Due to multiple health problems, both William and Faye have had to shield. With no immediate family support, Faye has found it difficult to cope by herself at home, with food shopping and loss of contact from the Hertswise group members being the main worry.

As both William and Faye attended the Hertford dementia group before lockdown, during shielding they were contacted by one of our amazing Team leaders, Hollie. She would ring the check in on them to see how they were both coping at home and if they would need any extra support.

During one occasion Faye raised concerns that they were finding it difficult to complete food shopping and that William was feeling fatigued with multiple rashes upon his body.

With permission from Faye, Hollie organised emergency food parcels to be delivered to their house, as well as contacting their local GP, who diagnosed William with anxiety and pneumonia.

As they were shielding and the dementia hub were closed, Hollie delivered ‘Entertainment Packs’ to them.

“We always complete the packs together, which we enjoy.”

With our dementia hubs not yet reopening, Hollie is continuing to call the weekly and visit them in their garden, at a safe distance, when she can.

Faye said:

“We take each day by each day, when he is less anxious, I feel so much more relaxed. When he is going through a rough patch, I feel it. The weekly phone calls, help me, it can be very lonely just Bill and me. He loves chatting to Hollie during the garden visit!”