A WOMAN will take to the stage in libraries across the borough this week to talk about her experience of dementia.

‘I Don’t Know What I’m Supposed To Be Doing’ is Emma Decent's personal story about her mother’s dementia, how it affected her and others and will see her using story-telling, photographic slide-shows, music and piles of personal mementos.

The phrase was something Emma’s mum said repeatedly in the early days of the condition, which is associated with a decline in memory or thinking skills.

The performance is suitable for anyone interested in the condition, including those affected by it – those in the early stages, family, carers, health professionals – and others.

The show coincides with this year’s Dementia Awareness Week from Monday, May 21 to Sunday, May 27, which calls on people to learn more about the condition and become Dementia Friends.

Emma said: “The last 16 years of my life were richly coloured by the ageing process of both my parents, my mother’s being dominated by her dementia.

"I struggled to watch them change, to fail, to require me to step up (or not) to the challenge of changing roles and become ‘grown-up’ at last.

"To put to bed (or not) some of my resentments of their imperfect parenting as spawned in adolescence.

“When my mother died in January 2015, despite the imperfections of our relationship and the fact she’d had dementia for over 10 years, I never felt more lonely.

"I gradually turned my attention to this possible project as a way of processing it all – picking up old poems, fragments of writing, memories, photos – and her legacy to me as embodied in her love for literature, culture and books.”

Emma’s mother was a librarian, while Emma is a library assistant.

The show will take place on Thursday, May 24 May at Chester Lane Library at 1pm, and Eccleston Library at 7pm, which will also be a British Sign Language interpreted performance.

Each show lasts 70 minutes.

Tickets cost £6, £5 for St Helens Library Card holders or £3 for concessions.

Book online at culturalhubs.eventbrite.co.uk or call into any local library to purchase tickets.

Free tickets are available for carers and support workers.

The shows are suitable for adults, and young people aged 10 and above.