I’ll be honest before I had experience of caring for loved ones with dementia, I didn’t fully understand or appreciate the impact it has and how significantly it can affect everyday life and shape the lives of families, friendships, workplaces and communities.

At Adult Learning Wales, we work every day with learners and carers who are experiencing dementia in different ways, often quietly and alongside everything else life brings. What people tell us they value isn’t anything complicated, it’s having somewhere familiar to go, people who recognise them, and activities that give rhythm and purpose to the week. That’s where community learning comes in.

Across Wales, our provision supports people to keep learning, connecting and participating together. People learn at their own pace, in environments shaped around respect and inclusion.

Some examples from our work bring this to life:

• Creative arts and performance courses where people make, paint, sing, act and craft together. These sessions offer structure and enjoyment, clear learning aims, and the chance to keep practising skills in a supportive group.

• ESOL provision with thoughtful adjustments, using repetition, clear routines and adapted materials so learners can continue engaging comfortably and confidently.

• Welsh-medium learning in Merthyr Tydfil, where continuity of language really matters. One learner has continued year after year, completing multiple courses because learning through Welsh supports identity, familiarity and confidence.

• Arts-based provision with partners such as Growing Space, delivering inclusive, accredited creative learning that supports achievement and progression for people experiencing dementia.

Alongside courses, our staff health and wellbeing drop-ins play an important role. These are informal, welcoming spaces where we can connect, talk things through and be gently signposted to local support.

None of this happens without the skill and commitment of our tutors and support staff. They are the people who notice when someone needs a quieter pace, who build routines that help learners feel safe, and who make learning spaces warm, calm and welcoming.

We’ve brought this lived experience directly into our contribution to Wales’ Draft Dementia Strategy 2026–2036, making the case that lifelong learning should be recognised as part of how Wales supports people to live well, alongside health and social care, and through strong local partnerships. You can read more about the strategy here.

There’s also growing attention in Wales on dementia more widely from community-based support to new research and diagnostic developments, but whatever progress is made nationally, everyday support still happens locally, in familiar places, with trusted people.

If dementia touches your life as a learner, a carer, a family member, a colleague or a friend, please know this: community learning is here, and it can be part of what helps people stay connected, involved and supported in everyday life. Please get in touch to speak with one of our team members via email info@adultlearning.wales

Kathryn Robson, Chief Executive