At St Nicolas Church in Abingdon on Saturday the Alzheimer’s Society had a jumble and craft sale with refreshments, and a lot of information about dementia.

From the pulpit I got a better view of the pew-top stalls. Towards the alter were clothes, and along the church, cards, and craft work, bric-a-brac, games, and books.

One lady told me about the fidget quilts she makes to provide tactile fun and hand activities. She does not normally sell them but gives them to community hospitals and care homes.

One of my first jobs was at Dickens Ward in Netherne Psychiatric Hospital near Coulsdon. I have strong memories of some of the people living there. There was one chap who spent a lot of his time feeling the contours and buttons and legs of the chair where he sat. He had been an upholsterer before retirement, and before the dementia robbed him of the ability to remember anything but some old memories.

The Alzheimer’s Society also had a couple of stalls on the Market Place, as did the Vale House who are specialists in caring for people with dementia, and supporting their families – far more innovative and caring than Dickens Ward.