As a collective of 10 Catholic charities working together in Caritas Social Action Network’s (CSAN) Older Peoples’ Forum, we’re using this week, Dementia Awareness Week, to encourage parishes to consider their important role in supporting people living with dementia. Being an active part of the Church means that we are often the ones best placed to deliver assistance: we already have informal referral mechanisms by way of friendship networks and community groups, and we can enter into much better meaningful, long-term relationships with people than can private or statutory services. And yet, people still slip through the net: single children left alone to deal with the grief of looking after an aged parent, husbands required to navigate complicated care processes while t