Hi All,

I wanted to update you all one final time to let you know what the fundraising has and will continue to achieve.  It's something we're all very proud of and all those who have sponsored us can really see what's happening with their money and will over the years be very proud that they have contributed to this fantastic project.  So, here is a note that we've all received from Justine Pickering, who's mum is currently suffering with Alzheimer's Disease.  Justine is working tirelessly to make a difference for her family and others.  Please take the time to read this, I'm sure Justine wouldn't mind me passing her words on......

extract from Justine's email......

"Just to confirm, together as a team, we have achieved nothing short of a miracle.

A new charity is currently being set up named Ty Hapus.

Clemmie once named a building at her school Ty Hapus in a competition and my mum was very proud. It happened just as she was diagnosed at 55, and it is the last clear memory we have of her being ecstatically happy and proud.

We have found the perfect building, a handsome Victorian former doctor’s surgery on Holton Road in Barry.

Crucially, it has disabled facilities and ramps so the renovation and refurb should be relatively easy. There is also a free car park across the road and disabled parking outside.

There is space for daily respite, counselling and therapy rooms and a drop in cafe.

Thanks to everyone's efforts, the Alzheimer's Society are about to begin recruiting a manager and four respite workers, who will be specially trained to deal with people with early onset Alzheimer’s and their families.

The centre will cost approximately ninety thousand pounds a year to run and I am confident that with a generous annual gift that has been pledged, and a sustained effort from me to continue fundraising, and seek out potential grants etc, the centre will go from strength to strength.

I can't wait for you all to see it - you're all very welcome to a site visit whenever you like as I have the keys - but you may prefer not to see the "Before", and just enjoy the "After" at the launch party where the lovely Stephen Terry has said he'll help make it a special evening.

To think, all I ever hoped we'd achieve was to raise enough money to fund a respite worker - I now realise that it wouldn't have touched the sides when it comes to helping people with this dreadful degenerative disease.

So the new centre is going to be an absolute lifeline.

Yesterday, Fiona Phillips said she would be honoured to become a patron - this is a huge coup and will help immensely.

We have had pledge to sponsor a kitchen, and tomorrow, designers Andy and Peter from Hampton’s in Penarth, and Fran Clarke an architect, are giving up their time to meet me on site to advise on ways to make Ty Hapus a calm, safe and beautiful place for the sick and their families.

Waitrose in Barry are supporting it as one of its store's chosen charities, thanks to Cath Scott, and it's clearly hit a nerve as it already has three times more green coins than the other projects.

So already there is a sense that this is a community project for Cardiff, Barry and the Vale, and the Alzheimer's Society are going to use it as a model for the rest of the UK as a centre of excellence in how to treat younger people with dementia in a dignified, respectful and age appropriate manner.

So thank you. Words will never be able to express mine and my family's gratitude. My mum and dad are moved beyond belief.".......

It's never too late to sponsor if you wanted to but didn't get around to it, as you can see by Justine's words, we'll be raising a lot of money every year to keep the centre going.  Next, we'll be looking for willing volunteers to help with the refurb!!

 

Thanks for reading, I think it's so important to know where your donations have gone

Carmel & Kate xx

 

Thanks for taking the time to visit our JustGiving page raising money for The Cardiff and Vale Alzheimer's Society.  Funds raised will help to provide support and care to all those friends and family members who are affected by this cruel disease.

Those of you who know us, will have fond memories of my father, Brian Ring, who passed away in 2008 after suffering from Alzheimer's disease.  Our family received invaluable support, advice and much needed information from the Cardiff branch and we feel that this is our opportunity to give something back.  There are many families coping and supporting their loved ones and to know that there is a support network out there is extremely important, but sadly this type of support is severely underfunded and the more we can do to keep the funds rolling in the better.  There are some very dedicated people working for this worthy charity, for whom I have great admiration. 

Kate and I are taking part in a cycle ride from Windsor Castle to Cardiff Castle, which is providing a personal challenge for us and hopefully will raise both awareness and money for this fantastic charity.

Blog

Blog 1

Well, after all that snow and ice I've started training, just cycling back and forth to work for now, but I'll start going out on the weekends very soon to build up some stamina.  All that frost last week played havoc, I fell off my bike, just yards from my house arrrrgghhh !!  The ice took my wheels and I glided across the road with the grace of Jane Torvill finish when performing Bolero - and I didn't even cry :)  I've got one of my best bruises though.  At least I'm over the 'new to the saddle stage!!'  Kate has been beavering away at revision for her exams, so she's promised she's gonna get started very soon.  I'll update on my progress again shortly, but I get the feeling this is not going to be easy.

Blog 2

Hi all, thought I'd update you all on week 2 of my training schedule.  Well, to be honest, I've not done much this week, but I attended a meeting only to find out that although I thought originally I was going to be cycling for around 130 miles, it now seems that the routes plotted work out at around 180 miles - aaarrgghh.  So, I've sparked into action and today I was up with the lark and out on my bike for 2 solid hours.  Oh my word, it's years since I've felt the bones of my backside.  I'm definitely going to invest in a good saddle.  I'll report next week of my progress, thanks for reading.  Before I sign out, I'd like to reassure all those who think I should attach a wide load sign to the back of my bike, that I reckon I may shrink an inch before I leave Windsor Castle !!!  Watch this space for my next installment. xx

Blog 3

This week has been a great experience.  Donations have been coming in offline as well as online and my rugby sweep is doing very well (thanks to Nick Church, for selling those tickets I'm left with).  Yesterday, Kate, Joe and I spent the morning at Ely Fire Station, washing cars alongside Blue Watch, with guest appearances from Alex Psaila and John Doolan (both of whom worked really hard) and I shouldn't forget Tom, the friendly paramedic, who helped in the kitchen and washed the cars.  I'm sure the Benevolent fund will be as grateful as I am for the work the lads put in to raise the money.  Any funds that come in are really appreciated.  I've attached a couple of pictures of the day.  Thanks lads !! We all enjoyed the experience and I hope you enjoyed your bacon butties.  Oh, as far as cycling goes, I'm on leave this week and so I'm gonna train, train, train.

Blog 4

I've had the week off this week and so training's really commenced. I'm well over the bruised bum syndrome and I've been for some regular long rides.  Kate has joined me this week now and we've been soaked through on some days.  As we can't guarantee the weather in April, we thought we wouldn't use rain as an excuse not to train.  We're quite enjoying the cycling actually and starting to look forward to the 'big one' a little more than before.  It still terrifies us a bit, but we know that our memories of my dad and the reasons we're doing the ride will carry us through.  Now that our fund raising is doing so well, we know there's no turning back anyway.  I can't thank everyone enough for their generosity, please remember to forward this page to anyone else you think may know my dad or has been affected by this cruel disease.  Update again next week xxx

Blog 5

Still cycling up the Taff Trail and still haven't got further than Castell Coch, but went with my brother on the weekend, there were many nods, good mornings and hellos.  We quite enjoyed the cycle, although I'd have to say it was bitterly cold.  Already arranged to go out with Kate and Christy on Saturday, so give us a wave if you see us.  Paul's tackling the 36 miler around the Vale with some of the other cyclists.  All I know is, it's getting nearer by the day, so I'm gonna start upscaling the training, else it's going to be more than just a killer, it'll be a total nightmare.  I'm not looking to regret the experience, but merely to feel a sense of pride and achievement when we reach the finish line.  Another update next week xx

Blog 6

 

Yesterday, I faced my toughest challenge yet.  I joined some of the other cyclists on a return trip to Caerleon.  It was a beautiful day and the scenery was fantastic.  I thought I'd faced some hills and done well as we arrived in Caerleon and stopped for a coffee.  Oh was that spoken too soon.  The return trip took a different route and I've never met such gruelling hills in my life.  I hadn't ever used the "granny" gears before, as I'm told they're nicknamed, but without them I wouldn't have survived.  I was so knocked out when I arrived back; I had to spend the afternoon at the local pub to get over it.  Oh well, all's well that ends well.  It was a 40 mile round trip, never has the daunting task of facing 180 miles been so prevalent

 

Blog 7

3 days to go and I'm getting nervous.  I went out for my most leisurely ride yet this weekend with my good friend Lisa Payne, who lost her mum very recently to this cruel illness.  For all the fun, we've had cycling it's been an emotional journey reaching this point and a constant reminder of those we've lost.  I feel very proud to be part of this event, not least because of what we've already achieved.  It seems that between the 65 cyclists, we've now raised enough money to employ 2 respite workers, who are already being trained up and will be providing valuable support to up to 8 patients at a time.  This is fantastic news and I'd like to thank all those who have taken the time and given their generosity towards this amazing achievement.  We've now committed ourselves to raising 30k-40k each year to keep the service going, which is a tall order, but hopefully our passion will see us through.

Final Blog Before the Challenge 

Well tomorrow is the start of the challenge, coach to Windsor at 8:45am and won't see Cardiff again until Sunday evening.  Longest distance I've managed during training is 40 miles and I can't say that was easy, but once they drop us off in Windsor, it's get on our bikes or catch the train (and I won't have enough money to get the train).  I'm looking forward to it apprehensively, but so many people have pledged their money for Kate & I to complete this ride and offered so many kind words of support that there's no way I would pull out now.  To be honest, I have enjoyed so many new views during my training, that I can honestly say that cycling has to be one of the best forms of transport.  We understand that the cycle route we're taking includes some beautiful scenery and we'd probably never get the opportunity to see any of it if we just continue darting about everywhere in the car.  So, my advice to anyone who cares to listen is get on your bikes, there's a whole world out there to be explored.  Thanks to Justine for organising this and to Therese for inviting us to take part, however difficult it may be, we'll never forget it xxx

Challenge Completed

I've just awoken at 5:45am after completing the full distance.  Probably did more than 180 miles, as we did go in the wrong direction a number of times.  Paul, Christy, Kate & I were all very emotional at the end as it dawned on us the huge task we'd just completed and thought of our dad (and bampy).  It was an eventful trip, Kate had a total of 3 punctures and the chain came off her bike twice.  Paul suffered 2 punctures and Christy 1 puncture and chain off.  I got off lightly and my bike seemed more than suitable for the rough terrain we had to endure for many miles.  The views were superb, but on times you felt you'd had enough of the beautiful countryside and just wanted to reach your next stop, where our bun ladies would be brandishing the best sight of all, the Welsh flags and beautiful smiles.  The bemused faces of those people on their sleepy barges as we followed the Kennet & Avon canal were quite amusing to see, but every now and then, we'd have some words of encouragement and we'd once again be spurred on.  Those hills were extremely tough and you had to reward yourself with the thought that you'd "done it" each time you gritted your teeth and got to the top, however there was always another to face, I guess I always knew it couldn't be downhill into Wales.  Our welcome into Cardiff Castle was tremendous and we really enjoyed seeing our wonderful families signifying the end of our gruelling trip.  Thanks to Justine & Therese for affording us the opportunity of being part of this great challenge.  The amazing thing was that Kate and I went from "never again" during the endurance test to "I would do it again" once we arrived back.  Either way it has been a very special three days and we met some wonderful people.  Finally, thanks to all that have dug deep and donated to this worthy cause, we are all very proud of ourselves and you should be now as between us we really have made a difference to people's lives.

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