Man who's wife has dementia praises Selsey Community forum support

Selsey Community Forum has received the King's Award for Voluntary Service for their 13 years of work. The award is the highest honour a volunteer service can be given and equivalent of an MBE.

The Selsey Community Forum is a partnership of various local voluntary organisations. They cooperate with a range of sectors to identify and meet local needs. Over the past ten years, the forum has been involved with partners in starting and sustaining over one hundred new activities and organisations.

The Selsey Community Forum have an array of services to aid and look after every community member. Their Selsey Care Shop is a one-stop-shop in the High Street for access to the other services provided the Community Forum.

78-year-old Paul Everet told us about his experience with the forum. He said: “Three years ago, just during the lockdown, I noticed some deterioration in my wife's health. We went to the doctors and the usual procedures. The consequence of that was she was diagnosed as living with dementia.

“That was something that I knew absolutely nothing about, nothing whatsoever. I went down to the Selsey Care Shop and Mike Nichols happened to be in the care shop at the time. He was instrumental in setting everything up.

"He said ‘Should I get one of the girls to call you in the week?’ So they did. And I was able to talk to them. They had loads of experience, and some of them that helped me were in the care of people who were living with dementia. They had helped loads of people that were in exactly the same boat as me before that needed signposting. That's what they did for me and we've been supported by them over that period of time.

“Eventually I decided, to see if I could give something back and become a volunteer myself for the Selsey Community Forum.

“I’m fairly confident that there’s there’s no place that provides the same care and opportunities for people the Selsey Community Forum does for the people.”