At our AGM on Friday we were thrilled by the great turnout of Carers, volunteers and supporters – making it our busiest AGM yet. Many folk humoured us by embracing the ‘wear something red’ theme, which tied in with our delight at receiving Comic Relief funding, and we’re already trying to think of an appropriate colour for next year!

You can read the Annual Report by following the link or view the presentation on our facebook page..

Carer Tommy Whitelaw did an amazing job as our guest speaker, and everyone in the room was moved by his presentation. Tommy used to be a merchandising executive, travelling the world with musical acts such as the Spice Girls, U2 and Kylie. But a few years ago Tommy’s mum, Joan, was diagnosed with vascular dementia, and Tommy became her full-time Carer.

Earlier this year he set out on ‘Tommy’s Tour’ to raise awareness of dementia sufferers – and of their Carers. On a walking tour of some of Scotland’s cities Tommy visited Carer Centres and spoke with many Carers. He collected letters and emails from dementia Carers the length and breadth of Scotland, and made a DVD about his experiences and the thoughts and feelings of some of the Carers he met. Tommy presented these to Nicola Sturgeon at the Scottish Parliament on 10th November, and she said of his DVD that it was “…probably the most powerful few minutes of television I have ever watched”.

You can view Tommy's film by following the link (takes you to another website)

Encouraged by the huge support he has had for his campaign, Tommy now hopes to form a new national group, continuing to take messages from Carers letters to local authorities. His campaign has never been a protest. He has simply aimed to show the true situation – what it’s really like to be a Carer for someone with dementia.

Tommy wrote to us on Friday after the AGM:

"I am sitting here tonight looking through the little packs you handed out today and looking at the flowers and chocolates the group kindly gave my mum. I have also opened a wee envelope and there is a thank you card and a voucher and I am very humbled by all this.

You have a really good group of people over there, the staff volunteers and group members and you should be proud of the work you do. I feel proud and privileged to have been part of that amazing group back in August and today. Today really was one of the most amazing days of this whole campaign more special than my day at parliament.

I will never feel lonely again and if I ever do I will think back to today to chase the blues away

Please send my thanks to every single member of the group,

From Tommy and his wee mum Joan"