Albert Jewell has been a Methodist minister for 53 years, serving for 16 years in the Leeds Methodist District, retiring back to Leeds in 2001. Latterly he was pastoral director and senior chaplain with Methodist Homes (MHA). He is editor of the dementia newsletter of the Christian Council on Ageing and is currently involved in a study of family carers of persons with dementia. In his retirement he completed a PhD on purpose of life in older Methodists and is currently a visiting research fellow of Glyndwr University in Wales