I have been lucky in obtaining an entry to
the New York Marathon on the 1st November in the public lottery. For
the first time in years I am going to use this event to raise money for charity
and I have chosen the Alzheimer’s Society. Alzheimer's Society is the leading
UK care and research charity for people with Alzheimer's disease and other
dementias, their families and carers.
Dementia is a collection of brain diseases,
over 200 separate diseases in fact, that affect over 850,000 people in the UK
today. To me that feels like Cancer did 40 years ago and I hope that if we
raise money for research and support we can tackle this problem and stop it
becoming such a burden, especially to the elderly and their carers.
I have set myself a target of raising
£4,000. I know from the Society that just £50 can provide the chemicals and
consumables to allow a PhD researcher to research the causes of dementia for a
day. £350 can pay for someone with
dementia to attend a Dementia Café for an entire year, where they can meet
others with dementia and gain knowledge that can help them cope better in their
daily life. And £650 can pay for a brain scan in studies looking to improve
diagnosis.
If you would like to learn more about
dementia, there are one-hour dementia friend courses run all round the country.
I went to a course in Leicester. It's fun and you'll learn a little more about
how to live and care for those affected. Just put "dementia friends"
into Google to find the right page about it. Or Click here.
If you do go to a course you will learn
that dementia is not just a part of growing old and that it’s not just about
losing your memory. You’ll also learn a little about how you can help people to
have an active and happy life with the disease.
If you would like to donate having read
this blog I would be delighted. It is easy to donate online through my justgiving
page here.
Thank you for reading, please share if you
know others might be interested.
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