At the start of the year I lost my nan, Iris, to vascular dementia. Vascular dementia is a form of dementia that causes a series of mini strokes in the brain. Watching my nan, who worked and drove and was completely independent, deteriorate and loose her quality of life so quickly broke my heart. She lost her ability to walk and became very confused at the world around her. Before my nan passed away, she wasn’t really my nan anymore, because the dementia changed her personality, so I felt like I grieved twice: once for loosing her spirit and once for loosing her body. She didn’t know who she was, where she was or who we were. Can you imagine waking up and having a family member look at you like a stranger? She deteriorated so quickly and kept asking heartbreaking questions such as ‘where is my husband? I love him’ - my grandad - who had passed away when I was 2 but she had no recollection. Watching someone who was once such a big character in my life, become someone I only recognised by face, was truly heartbreaking. So I am walking and volunteering for Memory Walk UK, with my mom and dogs, to raise money to fund life changing research and to prevent anyone else from having to go through what my nan and my family went through over the last couple of years. Every penny helps and there isn’t a donation too small! 

Around 225,000 people develop dementia every year – that's the equivalent to one person every three minutes. This September and October Memory Walks will be taking place across England, Wales and Northern Ireland to raise money for a world without dementia. Arm in arm, step by step and pound by pound, we will get there. Once you donate, Just Giving will send your money directly to the Alzheimer's Society. So it's the most efficient way to raise money – saving time and cutting costs for the charity. Please dig deep and help us walk for a world without dementia.