As you know, over the last few years I have been doing an annual charity walk to raise money for different charitable causes with my Lions Club of Fairlop. Last year our club raised in total £7,169.80

This year I have committed to doing a 10km walk on 10th September 2017, whilst wearing my prosthetic leg. I hope with God's will and blessing that I will be able to complete this challenge once again and raise money for a great cause.

The charity I have chosen to raise funds for this year is the Alzheimer's Society.

Dementia is something that is on the rise, and numbers are only set to increase. There are 850,000 people currently living with dementia in the UK. Around 225,000 people will develop dementia this year - that's equivalent to one every three minutes. A common misconception is that dementia is a natural process of ageing, but it is not - there are over 40,000 people under the age of 65 that currently have dementia, with the youngest person diagnosed with dementia at 27 years old.

Dementia isn't just about memory loss, it encompasses lots of different symptoms, including problems with language, orientation to time and space, perception, behavioural changes, cognition, and mobility. Things we take for granted, for example making a cup of tea, which has lots of different cognitive tasks (i.e. find the kitchen, remember where the tea bags are, what the kettle looks like, how to fill it, where the sugar is, which unit is the fridge etc.) can be difficult for someone living with dementia to do independently.

The Alzheimer's Society work very closely with other dementia charities to raise awareness of dementia, but also to help people who live with dementia to LIVE WELL. They also contribute to research to hopefully find a cure for this awful disease which can destroy families, as the impact of living or supporting someone with dementia can be emotionally devastating.

I have had great support from all of you in the past and am hopeful that you will again support me so that together we can make a successful contribution towards this very worthy cause.

I thank you all in advance for your kind support.