Thanks for visiting my fundraising page.

On the 26^th of April 2009 I ran the London Marathon in support of Alzheimer’s Research Trust (www.alzheimers-research.org.uk), a scientific charity based in Cambridge. 
Thanks a ton to all of you who have turned this event into a success with your generous donations.
If you have not had a chance, you can still sponsor me on this page, and I would be very grateful if you did so.

My finish time was 3 hours and 48 minutes.  It was a fantastic day, with unprecedented crowds and an almost perfect weather, just a bit too hot towards the end with the sun never giving us a break.

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Alzheimer’s is a very heartfelt problem in my family.  First it hit my grandmother Adele, who died in 2001 after ten years with Alzheimer’s, then my aunt Maria was diagnosed with the disease in 2000 and she now requires continuous care.  I spent a large part of my childhood with Adele and Maria, so you can imagine how I felt when I started seeing them slowly disappearing as victims of dementia.

I always felt I did not contribute to the family efforts enough, so I have been supporting charities with monthly donations for a number of years.  Running the London Marathon for the Alzheimer’s Research Trust is a big step I am taking to support this cause, one long 26 miles and worth hopefully a lor of money for research.

Alzheimer’s is a terrible disease, which has only relatively recently become of great concern to families and societies.  In the old days dementia was often considered part of aging, with memory loss, reduction in cognitive capabilities, irritability not seen as symptoms of a serious disease.  Today 700,000 people in the UK live with Alzheimer’s, over 1% of the population, and 160,000 new cases are diagnosed every year in the UK.  Worldwide it affects 27m people, a number forecast to quadruple by 2050 with the increase in life expectancy.

There is no cure as yet and patients need to be managed continuously, placing a major emotional, operational and financial burden on families and societies.

In spite of all this, Alzheimer’s is one of the most underfunded diseases.  In 2007-08 in the UK Alzheimer’s research received only 32 M£ from government research funds (e.g. cancer research received 248 M£, for 290,000 new cases). 

The Alzheimer’s Research Trust is a charity based in Cambridge, dedicating over 80% of its budget to funding world-class research to prevent, cure and treat dementia. They have funded over 150 research grants across the UK, in leading institutions and to top scientists.  Grant applications to the Alzheimer's Research Trust undergo a rigorous peer review process and are assessed by a Scientific Advisory Board.   Many promising projects have to be turned down due to lack of money.

Donating through Justgiving is quick, easy and totally secure.  You can donate by credit card in a secure environment, protected by SSL encryption, and Alzheimer's Research Trust gets your money faster.  Justgiving also adds 3% to your donation.

Finally, if you are a UK taxpayer, a 25% in Gift Aid is added by Gordon Brown himself, and you can also claim your donation in your yearly tax return, i.e. it only costs you 60% of the amount if you are a 40% taxpayer.

Thanks a lot for your help!