Thank you for visiting my fundraising page.

What can I say about the pilgrimage? It is so hard to describe in a few words that will encapsulate the emotions experienced along the way. For me the pilgrimage was a healing time to come to terms with my mother passing away. In a way it was a journey of memories. The places we visited; from little churches, villages, to the fields, rivers and huge landscapes. The generosity of the locals who sometimes had so little but always so generous in their giving. All these brought to mind pictures of my mother because there were so many little incidents, which I knew she would have enjoyed. From the landscapes and villages that would have inspired her to capture in watercolour paintings or sculptures. The last place I spent time was on the northern pilgrim route along the Bay of Biscay. My mother so enjoyed the sea and swimming. All this made me forget the ghastliness of her suffering. I was remembering her before the illness.

The journey was both healing and very emotional. My whole family lived the pilgrimage through my daily updates. My sister paid me a surprise visit when I was in the Meseta, Spain. My twin brother surprised me by welcoming me on my arrival in Santiago with my other brother, Father and both sister-in-laws and niece, we all cried.  Sometimes during the pilgrimage I cried when remembering my mother as she had been before the illness took her away from us. I was able to begin to remember my mother in happier times when she had been my mother always there for her family both nurturing, loving, encouraging and always always supportive in whatever we set out to do. 

A short story as to why I am raising money for my chosen charity. My mother was a very special person. Her family meant everything to her, they were her reason for living. She showed this in so many ways, from preparing a satchel for the plane journey with very firm instruction not to open this untill airbourne, the satchel was full of goodies, the flowers in your room and the little presents on your bed welcoming you home and she was always in the kitchen waiting for you, cooking and baking things to celebrate your return. She was a very gifted artist, a painter and sculpture - the house is full of her works of art a constant daily reminder of her.

All this was robbed from family and friends through a long history of depression which was then compounded by dementia. for six years I acted as her unofficial carer and support for my father. They had been married for 53 years. Slowly her condition worsened over the six years to the point where I could not cope on my own. Not fully understanding that the reason my mother was not pulling out of her periods of depression was due to the ever encroaching dementia. It was a very distressing time for all the family but particularly for my father whose wife of 53 years was fast disappearing. We did not know to what extent my mother was suffering but we knew she was aware that all was not right as she kept repeating " I am not well " as if to excuse her behavior. We were very fortunate that we were able to nurse my mother at home and the whole family were with her when she passed away in November 2006. 

Through my experience, I am sure there must be other family carers in the same situation I was in, trying desperately to look after someone they love dearly but finding it "Oh so hard" when  they  begin to behave so out of character and not knowing the best way to look after the illness of dementia when it is so individual to each person. The information from the medical team was "look on the internet", as I said each person is an individual and the very nature of dementia is that it effects each person so differently. The information on the internet  is  impersonal.

So I  decided to embark on a pilgrimage by pony and carriage from Essex to Santiago di Compostela 1400 miles. We started on 14th July 2007 and arrived 9 weeks later on the 20th September. The pilgrimage is to raise money to set up

A two part workshop for family carer's to explore living with dementia.

 The workshop will:

enable carers to understand the physical damage caused by dementia in relation to our everyday living skills.

help carers to use their unique knowledge of the person they care for to build on strengths as well as support their needs and difficulties

Explore potential barriers to good communication

have the opportunity to raise any concerns or questions they may have in relation to caring for a person with dementia

to reach the above aims we will use examples from Olga's experience of living with her dementia along with anecdotes from Olga's family to help carers see that they are not alone in their concerns and challenges.

The overall aim of the course will be for carers to feel better informed about the disease and have some strategies they can use when life feels difficult for them.

Donating through this site is simple, fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to donate: Alzheimer's Society will receive your money electronically and, if you are a UK taxpayer, an extra 28% in Gift Aid will be added to your donation at no cost to you.

Please donate generously.

Many thanks for your support.