My name is Marie Ward and I have decided to do a walking challenge to raise money for dementia through supporting Alzheimer’s Society in Northern Ireland. All money raised will go towards supporting families and those with the condition locally.

For any of you that know me you will be aware that I lost my lovely wee mammy in February 2020. Her name was Elizabeth Diamond (known as Bertha to her friends and family). My mum had Alzheimer’s disease. She was so loving and caring to everyone, decent, kind and loved a bit of craic. She lived independently with my dad in her bungalow. 

However, over a number of years, this horrible disease took everything away from the person I loved. I have to admit I used to think that Alzheimer’s was memory loss and how wrong I was. In the early stages, mum would forget dates and words and recall short-term events. She would repeat her stories quite a lot. Then it progressed to difficulty in piecing together what she wanted to say or to follow others in conversation, she lost the ability to cook and needed more and more care. However, she could remember events from a long time ago when she was younger. We then experienced mood swings, sometimes irritation over the slightest things and sometimes withdrawn. In the end times, she couldn’t remember eating, food was hot and then cold or unfamiliar to her, she would have difficulty swallowing and worst of all repeating pleas for help. My dad passed away in May 2019 and sometimes she remembered he was gone and other times not. It was just awful but I am grateful that she knew me till the end.

I really want to do something positive for those suffering from this condition and for their families. So, I am doing 79 walks for Dementia. Why 79? Because that was the age my mum was when she died so one walk for each year of her life. I started to think about the walks I could do. Mum didn’t walk herself but she lived in both the Cityside and Waterside of Derry/Londonderry. I’m going to walk the two bridges (Craigavon and Foyle) because it captures the city, it’s a nice walk of 7 miles with lovely scenery. I’m no athlete and whilst this would be easy for others it’s a challenge for me. 79 walks at 7 miles per walk is 553 miles. However, I also want 79 partners to walk with me. They can do the walk for someone they love that is or has suffered from dementia, they can do it for charity or just to support me. I’m not tied to it being the bridges, I’m also open to doing a walk that means something to my partner on the day. For every walk, I will donate £10 which gives a starting total of £790 for the charity. If you walk with me, I will ask you to do 3 things:

1. Donate £20 to the charity via this page;

2. Write a short paragraph and/or photograph about who or why you are doing the walk for and after each walk I will post a photo of me and my walking partner with their paragraph/photo on Facebook. This can also be done in video format if you are comfortable with that;

3. Share the post with your Facebook friends with details of how to donate if they wish too.

I’m not putting anyone under pressure to get a certain number of sponsors. Even with my £10 and their £20 alone, we will make £2370 for Alzheimer’s Society!

As I said, I’m definitely not an athlete but I want to do 2-3 walks a week. This will take me at least 6 months starting beginning of June. I’m conscious of some holiday time and hopefully not but if any injury means I need to cut back a bit my goal is to have it all completed before my mum’s second anniversary. In February 2022.

In my updates on Facebook, I will try to put up information about dementia and the work of Alzheimer’s Society, including any support available. I have already linked in with the Society about the fundraising and can provide details of my contact to anyone who wants it.

So, if you want to join me in a walk, either individually, as a group or even as a relay team please Private Message me on this Facebook page 79 Walks For Dementia and we can chat about a potential date. I already have 30+ friends, family and work colleagues signed up which I am delighted with but I need more.

I’m happy to take any questions or comments. Thank you for your support and I look forward to hearing from you.

Love Marie.