At the same time we’re saying a fond farewell to Dan Scott, who leaves Fifth Sense to move on to the next stage of his career.  Dan has been a superstar during the two and a half years he has been with us. He has been heavily involved in our communications, the development of our information resources, and has demonstrated his talent for film making with the various information videos he has produced. A really important part of his work over the last year or so has been providing direct support to people who contact us and it has been great to see him grow and develop in this part of his role, and of course, achieve a distinction in his marketing apprenticeship. We will really miss Dan and wish him all the very best in his future endeavours, and I know that many of you will wish the same.   

We’re going to be issuing another newsletter to tie in with Anosmia Awareness Day on 27 February which will contain more information on our plans for this year and beyond, including details of a significant new project which we are looking forward to sharing with you.

One particular highlight from January is the webinar we delivered for the Metropolitan Police on smell and taste disorders. One topic covered was how having a problem with the sense of smell can have an impact on a serving officer’s role; being unable to smell alcohol on a suspect’s breath, or detect a gas leak when on a call out to someone who has collapsed at home, for example. Our session was introduced by Met officer and Fifth Sense Ambassador Carl Hughes, who shared his own experience of smell loss and how it has had an impact on his personal and professional life, and I’d like to take the opportunity to thank Carl for his ongoing support. I’m really pleased that the Met have recognised that this is an important issue, and I think this webinar sets the tone for the work we are going to be undertaking in the year ahead.  We’ll look forward to being in touch again later this month.

Best wishes,

Duncan Boak

Chief Executive and founder