I’m 70 years old and I care for my husband, who has dementia. I had to go part-time to look after him, but I absolutely love my job. And I have wonderful grandchildren – they keep me going. 

My husband needs me. Thankfully, he’s not a wanderer. But he needs a lot of prompting – with showering, toilets and meals. He has loads of medication, so I give him his pills, and an injection once a fortnight. I can’t really leave him for more than 4 hours at a time. 

There was a time when things were really bad for us, and I was struggling, trying to manage everything. One time I was at the local Carers group and they said a lady was helping with digital. I wasn’t in a good place then. But later, I thought I’d give it a whirl. 

That’s how I met Alice. She gently helped me find my way around my phone. Just basic life stuff.  She showed me how to use the Sainsbury’s app and collect Nectar points. I found out how to use pictures and record voice messages. And if I want to know something I can Google it. 

I used to be really scared to go to new places. Alice showed me how to use the maps. She gave me confidence – she kept saying, don’t be scared. So I went on holiday to a place I didn’t know. I used the sat nav to get there. When we were away, we went on day trips. You can find out how long it’s going to take you to get there. 

I haven’t got into online banking – that’s scary for me. I’m worried because my bank branch is going to close next year. But the local post office does a hub once a week, and the Library will do one too, so I’ll probably use them. 

Alice also set up my emails. I didn’t know how to do that before, and now I can get emails on my phone. 

Hollie

Alice helped me order prescriptions on my phone. My husband doesn’t have a dosette box; I organise all the medication. Rather than going in and back all the time, if I’m running low I can just use the app. You can order for yourself or someone else. And there’s a box to use, if I need to ask the doctor anything. 

It doesn’t work so well to use Patches on my phone. The app’s ok, but the appointments are never really there. Instead I follow a plan – I’ve always been an early riser, so I go down at quarter to 8 and stand outside the surgery. 

Alice is so warm and nice. She’s not bossy. She’s really helpful. She could tell when I was down, and if I wasn’t up to it we’d just talk about my situation. Sometimes I feel so bad – I get angry and frustrated – but Alice understood. She helped me go digital and feel much more confident.