My grandad, John Paige, died just before I got married in June this year. He was a wonderful man who grew up in Hove and studied to become a widely known Architect across Cambridgeshire. He loved architecture and music, lived and breathed jazz music and modern art. As his granddaughter I always found it easy to discuss music and my love of all things arty with him, however towards the end of his life it came increasingly hard to keep up with these conversations due to dementia that was brought on so quickly overnight by a bleed on his brain. We thought we had lost him the night we took him to the hospital. He had gone from a perfectly functioning adult whom hours before was discussing the news in front of the TV with me, to a wild and confused old man. It was heartbreaking knowing that the doctors and nurses struggling to cope with him that night and the following months would never see the kind and gentle man that he was.

He struggled to hold conversations during the last few months of his life as his speech got more and more muddled however he never lost his utter devotion to music and listened to his favourite jazz music up to the day he passed away.

I initially thought the best place to send the donations for this 10k race was a dementia charity or the hospital ward that looked after my grandad but then I realised that was focussing on his last days not his best days. His best days were listening and playing music, spending time with his children and grandchildren and making us all smile. I think the best place for these donations to go, that would have made him the happiest, would be buying new musical instruments for the local school near his home in Cambridge.

Every penny that you donate will go towards a musical instrument to help a child at a local school learn a skill that will be with them for life and bring so much joy.

Please donate and wish me luck for the longest run I've ever done!