My wonderful husband Jon was diagnosed with frontal temporal lobe dementia in 2015 at the age of 49yrs. The last three years have thrown up more challenges than we could ever have imagined, but despite this as a family we have stayed strong and focused on all the positives and made the absolute most of life and living. While Jon continues to face his day to day challenges the support of the young onset dementia group has been invaluable to us both. With this in mind I, along with our son-in-law Stephen, my brother & sister Ant & Liz and our nephew and niece-in-law Adrian and Sue have signed up to run the Cardiff half marathon in October in aid of Friends of Young Onset Dementia Pembrokeshire. This is going to be quite a challenge for some of us, but nothing compared to what Jon has to go through on a daily basis!

“People with young onset dementia have very different needs to older people with this condition e.g they are often still physically fit and able, have different interests etc and the aim of Friends of Young Onset Dementia Pembrokeshire is to support them to remain as active as possible for as long as possible. They should not have to use the same services as for instance a patient who are in their 80's or 90's just because they are suffering with the same condition.

Dementia is a cruel illness and for younger people who are just about to embark upon retirement after many years in work this is even more so the case. The group was established to give people with young onset dementia the opportunity to meet with others who are experiencing similar issues and the money raised just means that a variety of activities can be carried out ranging from going walking, visiting the theatre or going on a boat trip. Money can be an issue for this client group as they may have had to give up work, still have dependents etc. In addition having 'a fund' means that even when a visit is made to a café it is far easier to order and pay as one group rather than individuals, who may be experiencing problems with using money, paying for themselves.”

Thank you all in advance 😘🏃🏻‍♀️👏 xx