The Dementia Carers' Respite Team
The Trustees and the advisory council members of our charity have a wealth of relevant experience and are fully committed to achieving its goals. This valuable experience includes the following:
- Running national and international companies, local community organisations and societies
- Managing charities
- Marketing, public relations, media planning and events organisation
- Fund-raising
- Specific sector knowledge, for example, experience with Alzheimer's Society UK, Alzheimer's Research International and direct first-hand experience as dementia family carers.
Trustees
Walid studied Laboratory Haematology, working in the NHS before joining Bayer in the UK and later in France, reaching executive positions. Strongly believing in hard work to make life better for the community, as activist and Councillor, he delivered projects for Hyde Heath, Holmer Green and Little Kingshill. Following the end of his term as Chairman of the local Liberal Democrats party, he decided to move from politics into charity activities by setting up Dementia Carers Respite. According to Walid “we are only here once. Yes, we must have time for our family and friends but giving back to the community we live in, the community which has given us so much over the years, is a duty and a must.”
A BBC TV item focussed on a full-time dementia patient carer, followed by much research and family carer interviews, spurred Walid to do something about the suffering of many family carers and he hopes this charity will do the same for the reader.
Parveiz Aslam is a semi-retired teacher living in Buckinghamshire since 1982. Due to his extensive local work, he received a Queen’s honours in 2008 for his services to the community of Chesham and Buckinghamshire. He is currently involved in a leadership, coaching and advisory capacity in a broad range of charities including The Citizens Foundation and The Community Heartbeat Trust to mention just a few. To have more direct impact in serving his community, Parviez became a Councillor in 2021.
Parveiz said “Although I am extremely busy with so many commitments locally and nationally, when Walid invited me to be a trustee for Dementia Carers Respite, I accepted in a heartbeat and will be definitely making more time available for this wonderful charity by autumn 2023."
Peter Healy has lived all his life in South Buckinghamshire. After a career in marketing, he retired in 2012 and became more involved in local voluntary work in a variety of organisations in his local village of Holmer Green. He also volunteers for Amersham Museum where he recently became a trustee. Di, who was Peter’s wife, died from Alzheimer’s Disease in 2021 and this has led him to become involved with the Alzheimer’s Society and now with Dementia Carers Respite.
Peter said “As I was a Dementia family carer myself for many years, I know too well the difficulties and challenges they face day in and day out and I hope to put my personal, real-life experience to good use for the benefit of Dementia Carers Respite."
Jonathan Waters has been a Buckinghamshire Councillor since the new Council was formed in 2020 representing Penn Wood and Old Amersham ward, previously a Chiltern District Councillor. He is retired and previously worked as a Director and Chief Operating Officer with responsibilities covering Finance, Legal, HR and IT. Jonathan serves on a number of council committees and is currently Chair of East Buckinghamshire Area Planning Committee, Vice-Chairman of Strategic Sites and a member of three Community Boards having been Chair of the Beaconsfield & Chepping Wye Community Board over the last two year. In his role as a Councillor, he has seen the ever increasing impact directly and indirectly of dementia to many residents in Buckinghamshire. He sees this charity as providing much needed respite support to the growing army of cares who deserve our recognition.
Committee
Advisory Team
Andrew Ketteringham, former director of external affairs at Alzheimer’s Society, Vice Chair of Alzheimer’s Disease International, chaired the 2012 ADI conference in London.
"While working to convince the UK government that it should produce a national dementia strategy, I worked closely with those living with dementia, including their carers. During that time, I never failed to be impressed by the love, care and time given by carers. To enable them to undertake their valuable work there is a significant need to provide them some respite from time to time. I am delighted, therefore, to see the need being recognised in Buckinghamshire and a charity being established to meet that need. You deserve our support."
Dr Katy Newell-Jones has worked across the charity and higher education sectors for over 30 years. She has worked with a wide range of charities, including as Programme Director for Feed the Minds UK, as a technical consultant for WHO, and holds an honorary research fellowship at the Nuffield Department of Medicine, Oxford University.
Katy claims, “Charities are most effective when targeting a specific need and drawing on the research evidence to develop the most effective approaches. Dementia Carers Respite meets both these criteria in a field which is increasingly important locally, nationally and globally. I look forward to seeing the difference that DCR can make in Buckinghamshire.”
Dominic Pinkney is the Chief Executive of two charities and a social enterprise, working to increase and develop volunteering and community participation, from large corporations to local volunteering. His in-depth knowledge of running charities and volunteer organisations will be a great source of quality and qualified advice for Dementia Carers Respite. Dominic’s love and endeavour to help and develop communities has led him to become an Amersham Town Councillor where he is already making a difference. “I was delighted to be asked for advice on the set up of this Charity and glad to have helped. I will continue to provide my expertise where I can, to serve this worthiest of causes at a time where our beleaguered NHS and financially stretched councils are struggling to make ends meet,” commented Dominic.
Bob Kottler is a Chartered Engineer and a Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers. He has led the construction of many major civil engineeringprojects in over 55 countries. In retirement he has become involved in a number of volunteer organisations.
Bob said, "I believe that my experience of managing complex projects is very relevant to help me to establish and maintain the processes needed to run the charity with robust systems and paperwork."
Jules has over 25 years' experience as a marketing professional in various companies, including Coca-Cola, Heinz and Johnson & Johnson, with particular expertise in media and communications. In 2014 she moved from the corporate world to set up her own business, as a bespoke picture framer. This has given her not only an interesting new career but also more flexible working enabling the pursuit of other endeavours such as charity volunteering. "Having lived through the harrowing experience of seeing my mum suffering from dementia, I cannot think of a more worthy cause to which to dedicate my time than Dementia Carers Respite."
Future Plans
As with any new business, building the right team is an essential, yet time consuming task. Dementia Carer’s Respite charity is still in this vital phase of its growth. Over the next few months, we will be recruiting further trustees as well as advisors in specialist fields such as fund raising, project management, customer relationship management (CRM) and finance.
If you have any of these skills and just a few hours a week that you could spare to help in this worthwhile cause, please contact us at support@dementia-respite.org.uk
All the work we do benefits the full-time family carers and their health and well-being.