My Work With Partners in Dementia

A little over a year ago, Kathryn Dunn, a friend of mine introduced me to Partners in Dementia. They are a small charity doing incredibly important work for people living with dementia and the families who care for them.

Dementia is something very close to me. My mum lived with dementia and passed away a few years ago, and anyone who has been through that journey knows how overwhelming and isolating it can feel. So when Kathryn connected us, I knew I wanted to help however I could.

Of course, I have a technical skillset, something they didn’t have in-house so I started by supporting them with the basics: setting up laptops, sorting out Microsoft 365, fixing day‑to‑day tech issues, and making sure their digital tools actually worked for them.

Over time, it became clear their website was not as good as it could have been. An old, restrictive WordPress build hosted on servers in Australia, slow for UK users, difficult for the staff to update, and not aligned with dementia‑friendly design principles.

So I rebuilt it from the ground up.

I migrated everything to high‑performance UK cloud servers, transferred the domain back into the charities control, and created a new site designed specifically around dementia‑friendly guidelines… simple structure, clear hierarchy, simplified navigation, specialised typography, and visual structure that reduces cognitive load.

I integrated Eventbrite so their “Breath, Body, and Mind” courses automatically appear on the site without extra admin. I integrated their Stripe account to make donations simpler and secure. And I set up a maintenance plan with backups, security checks, and regular updates so the charity never has to worry about the technical side of their website again.

Today, their website is much faster, accessible, and genuinely supportive for the people who rely on it, and I still volunteer as their IT Manager, helping with everything from domains and email to laptops and devices.

Justin, one of the Co‑Directors, recently said that I’ve been “extremely supportive and reliable” and that I “took the time to understand their organisation’s needs”. That meant a lot.

Like many small charities, Partners in Dementia are facing real funding challenges. If you ever find yourself in a position to support a charity close to you, please do so. And take a look at Partners In Dementia, Their work makes a difference every single day. I’m proud to be involved