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The Rileys cross Coniston

Joe Riley is raising money for Alzheimer's Society
“Joe Riley's fundraising”

on 22 June 2011

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At Alzheimer’s Society we’re working towards a world where dementia no longer devastates lives. We do this by giving help to those living with dementia today, and providing hope for the future by campaigning to make dementia the priority it should be and funding groundbreaking research.

Story

<p> <div style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; margin: 0px;"><span id="internal-source-marker_0.6037616070825607" style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sunday 26th June would have been my Grandma Riley&rsquo;s birthday. </span></div> <div style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; margin: 0px;"></div> <div style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; margin: 0px;"><span id="internal-source-marker_0.6037616070825607" style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sadly she passed away earlier this year, following around a decade of dementia. &nbsp;I personally said goodbye to my Grandma several years ago, wanting to remember her as the lady who used to let me drink cloudy lemonade, read me stories and look after me when I got sick one summer. She was always so enthusiastic and excited by my hair-brain ideas, and encouraged my imagination as a child.</span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">She is also the one I blame for my love of swimming, as it was her who was supposed to be looking after me, giving my mum a well earned break, when I first leaped into the pool by myself and had to be rescued by the lifeguard.</span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So I find it very fitting that in her honour and on her birthday, to raise money for the Alzheimer's Society, my mother and I will be attempting to cross Coniston Water and back. </span></div> <div style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; margin: 0px;"></div> <div style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Admittedly, this is not a huge challenge for me, but for my mum, who&rsquo;s in her 60&rsquo;s, a mere 4&rsquo;11&rdquo; and has never done open water swimming before, this is a monumental task for which she has been in training &nbsp;for months. I am immensely proud of my mum for taking on this challenge, she has worked so hard, and would be so very deserved of any donations you may feel compelled to throw our way.</span></div> <div style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; margin: 0px;"></div> <div style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So please, give whatever you can.Your generosity is all that will be keeping us warm in the freezing cold lake! (well, that and the wetsuits :p)</span></div> <div style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; margin: 0px;"></div> <div style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thank you.x</span></div> </p>

Donation summary

Total
£361.00
+ £46.50 Gift Aid
Online
£196.00
Offline
£165.00

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