Fifth Sense at Dartmouth Food Festival
We had a fantastic weekend at the Dartmouth Food Festival, Devon, where we spoke to over 100 people keen to learn more about smell and taste disorders, the vital work Fifth Sense does and how they can access help from us, GPs, ENTs and smell and taste clinics.
There were several powerful conversations, with some members of the public acknowledging for the first time how much their disorder impacts their daily life and wellbeing, including one lady who hadn’t before considered the safety aspect of not being able to detect gas, fire and spoiled food.
We also spoke to several people whose loved ones are affected, helping them to begin conversations to encourage them to seek support, including a mum whose young daughter’s sense of smell had not recovered after having COVID several times.
It was also good to chat with a man who said he was pleased to see us as he was finding the festival difficult due to his altered sense of smell following a virus. He was glad to hear there is hope for improvement and support available, and is keen to attend the Birmingham Smell and Taste Action Group.
We want to thank the Food Festival for being such wonderful hosts, Fifth Sense volunteers Hannah Martin and Heather Morris for their support and for showing such kind empathy towards the visitors, and sommelier and wine educator Rebecca Mitchell, who kindly allowed us to share a stand and held a sensory wine tasting to raise money for Fifth Sense, with wine sponsored by LWC Drinks. Our final thank you is to perfumer Marianne Martin, whose smell kit was an engaging way to initiate conversations.