From NHS to CIC: How Katie Griggs is supporting families living with dementia
After more than 20 years working for the NHS, Leicester’s Katie Griggs has turned her experience of caring for others into a new kind of community support.
Katie entered nursing straight from school after a youth training placement at a home for people with learning disabilities. She went on to spend most of her career in learning-disability and mental-health services before joining a specialist dementia team — the role she describes as the one she loved most.
“I found it hard seeing so many families being failed by the system and getting very little support post-diagnosis,” Katie explains.
After seven years in that team she left the NHS to start her own support service, initially offering one-to-one help for people in their own homes. Seeing how isolated many were, she went on to establish Sapcote Memory Hub CIC, which now provides group activity sessions offering cognitive stimulation and social interaction.
Based in the heart of Sapcote, the Hub runs exercise, music therapy and cognitive-stimulation sessions designed to boost wellbeing and connection. While it specialises in dementia support, sessions are open to anyone who could benefit.
The organisation also provides emotional support and advice for carers and families and delivers dementia training to external care settings.
“Our ethos is simple: to improve the quality of life for people living with dementia and their families,” says Katie.
In 2023 the Hub received a community award recognising its local impact. To date it has supported hundreds of families and continues to grow, recently securing Sport England funding to develop new exercise sessions and exploring partnerships to replicate its model elsewhere in the UK.
Alongside running the Hub, Katie has begun mentoring others who want to start purpose-led ventures. “I was approached by lots of nurses and healthcare professionals asking how I’d managed to leave the NHS and set up my CIC,” she says. “That’s how the mentoring began.”
Through her programmes she helps people register and fund their own Community Interest Companies, develop business plans and scale existing organisations. She also offers one-to-one consultations and runs the low-cost membership Social Impact Academy.
Katie believes CICs provide a practical structure for those who want to combine social purpose with sustainable business. “They have the heart of a charity and the flexibility of a business,” she explains. “Any profits must be reinvested into the community, which builds trust and ensures the work always serves a social purpose.”
Reflecting on the shift from nursing to entrepreneurship, she adds: “The biggest challenge was confidence. Nurses are brilliant at advocating for others but not always for themselves. Over time I learned that if you believe in your mission, you have to be its loudest voice.”
Looking ahead, Katie plans to expand dementia-awareness and training workshops across the region and to grow her mentoring programmes for professionals ready to create community projects of their own.
“I want to help make the world a better place one CIC at a time,” she says.
Katie will host a free online masterclass on Monday, October 27 at 11am, introducing what a CIC is, the benefits of running one and practical tips for getting started.
Further details and registration are available at www.katiegrigg.com