Councillor launches new community event at King's Court Care Home in Holt with talk on living well with dementia
North Norfolk District Councillor Liz Withington launched a new community coffee morning at King’s Court Care Home, in Hempstead Road, Holt, with a positive message – you can live well with dementia and a diagnosis is not the end of the world.
Mrs Withington gave a talk on her personal experience of living with vascular dementia and emphasised it had not held back her political ambitions, joining Sheringham Town Council in 2015 before being elected as a Liberal Democrat member of North Norfolk District Council in 2019.
She was addressing visitors and residents at the Kingsley Healthcare home’s first Coffee Morning with Reminiscence, which will be held on the second Thursday of every month, from 10am to 11.30am.
Kingsley’s Customer Relations Director Stephen Pullinger said: “It was a very inspiring talk by Liz and we wish to thank her. As a care business, we are very impressed by North Norfolk Council’s commitment to Age Friendly Communities and this monthly event for the local community is our response to that initiative.”
Now a portfolio holder in the cabinet, responsible for community, leisure and outreach, Mrs Withington said: “I have poor short-term memory but that does not really affect my work as a councillor, my commitment to bringing about a healthier North Norfolk and my passion for the arts.
“My mobile phone is my lifeline. When I get up in the morning, I look at my calendar and that tells me where I have got to be that day.
“People know to ring me if I don’t turn up for a meeting – it does not happen very often! – and I will jump in the car if there is still time.”
Fellow councillors were very supportive and she was helped through certain adjustments, including sending her paper copies of documents.
She said a massive stroke in 2004, which had left her unable to walk and speak for a long time, was the cause of her dementia.
“It changes your life, I could no longer work as a primary school headteacher and I could not do the same things with my children; there is almost a grieving process. However, it is important to realise you are still the same person inside with the same passions and interests,” she said.
Mrs Withington said it was important for her to keep mentally active and look after her physical health to slow the progress of her dementia.
She said: “My message is don’t put yourself in a box because of your dementia. My chronic illness which caused my stroke has a much greater impact on my life at the moment than my dementia.
“It is important that people are open about living with dementia; people who do that will break down that stigma.”
