What’s been very striking this month is the variety of people who have approached me to discuss further applications of the scheme’s care approach in their locality.

Sometimes, it’s simply a case of a sub-team who don’t yet use the scheme within a member hospital, spontaneously declaring themselves keen to engage; typically, the local Butterfly Scheme Lead first works to get the scheme embedded on the wards, then moves on to include A and E and Outpatient areas, both of which we know will offer huge benefits by delivering the scheme’s care. It’s remarkable how often I receive a keen enquiry from one of those teams just at the point when I know the local Lead is about to approach that team to bring them on board anyway!

There was a particularly pleasing enquiry this month from a carer whose mother is currently using the scheme in hospital. The lady’s daughter was so delighted with the benefits the scheme had brought that she started to consider how that same insightful approach from staff in her workplace might benefit people living with dementia when they use the services she and her colleagues provide. Whilst the scheme itself won’t be appropriate for that purpose, it’s enabled her to understand that insight into interacting with people living with dementia is valuable in life in general.

When I created the scheme all those years ago, it wasn’t with a view to world dominance, and it certainly wasn’t – and still isn’t – for profit. The scheme is part of a movement to create a better world for people affected by dementia. It delights me that we’ve got to the stage where more and more people are realising for themselves that insight into dementia – and how to engage with people affected by it – will bring benefits to all.