I am the Wellbeing Centre Lead for Age UK Sheffield's creative dementia day centre. We support people living with dementia and their carers. Alongside this, I work as the Partnerships Officer for Sheffield Dementia Action Alliance, which is working to establish Sheffield as a dementia-friendly city.

In 2019 I was awarded a Churchill Fellowship to visit innovative dementia day centres in Japan and Canada. This gave me the opportunity to learn from, and share good practice with, professionals, experts in the field, and most importantly people living with dementia and their carers. The aim was to explore different ways we could provide support though day centres and other services.

With the right input many people with dementia can live well. Despite this, many people do not get the support they need and with the number of people with dementia only increasing, the need is getting greater. Both Japan and Canada deliver day centres in different ways, which made for an interesting comparison. As well as sharing my findings with colleagues in the sector, I continually share ideas and support with the colleagues I met while travelling. This is always extremely valuable and insightful.