Helen lives in Bruce Lodge, a care home for people living with dementia. Her daughter lives in France and so Helen doesn’t see her daughter regularly.

Andy is part of Helen’s circle at Bruce Lodge and when talking to Helen about what was important to her, he understood that she missed speaking to her daughter.

Staff at Bruce Lodge had, in the past, helped Helen to use Skype to call her daughter and be able to see her face. However, the staff at Bruce Lodge rarely have the time to sit down with Helen with a computer or a tablet to connect the mother and daughter.

Discovering this from the first circle meetings, Andy decided that helping Helen to Skype with her daughter was something that he could do as part of his circle actions.

Firstly Andy liaised with Helen’s daughter in France, arranging a time and date that she would be able to talk. He then took his iPad into Bruce Lodge so that Helen could use it to call.

Andy says that once connected to France, Helen seemed thrilled to be able to see and speak to her daughter. He said that he, himself, gained an immense feeling of satisfaction seeing how happy Helen was to speak to her daughter and to have helped her feel so good with such a simple action.

After the call Andy said that Helen glowed with pleasure and so Andy has decided with Helen that he will help her connect with her daughter regularly.

This way, the care workers do not have to feel the pressure of not letting Helen down and Andy has the pleasure of seeing Helen glow with pleasure when she talks to her daughter.

This story illustrates beautifully that it really is the small things that can make a big difference.