Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

My friends and I are embarking on the 3 Peaks Challenge in July, in order to raise money for Alzheimer's Research UK.

My Dad

My dad, like everyone else's dad, was amazing - one of a kind and very special to me. Dad was a war baby, born in 1943 and he spent his youth getting into trouble, climbing drainpipes and falling off, along with the occasional air gun fight with his friends.

When he wasn't doing that, he had a passion for motorcycles, Triumphs, BSA Gold Stars etc. From there, he worked in various factories making different things. Back then, you didn't need qualifications to be a plumber or builder, so Dad - being very handy - took on various roles over the years.

One year he was called to a flat in Whitton, Twickenham where a single mum of two had an issue that needed a plumber and it was my dad who turned up to help. That’s how my mum and dad met and he became a stepfather to those two girls.

In 1984, I arrived, joining my two sisters in London so we became a family of five. While I grew up, Dad was always doing something - building something, fixing something. When the summer holidays came around, I went to work with Dad. At that time, he worked for a housing trust and took on all sorts of works in all sorts of interesting places, ranging from full house removals to fixing taps. It was a lot of driving around London, but it was fun and it meant that we spent loads of time together and I might have even learnt a few new words…

After I finished school, we moved to Devon, where I started college at North Devon. Unlike my dad, I didn't want to do the same things that he had spent his life doing - computers and the internet were a new and growing prospect at the time. So I chose to do a BTEC National Diploma in computing - mainly because there were no exams!

Outside of my time at college and with my friends I would be at home with my dad building sheds, replacing clutches in my car on Christmas Day, repairing a car I had crashed. Needless to say, no matter what I did or asked, Dad would always have the answer - maybe not immediately, but he had this knack of telling me that something wasn't possible, but then later on he would appear with it, or would have created a tool to achieve what we needed – it felt like there was nothing that my dad couldn’t do or fix.

I had no idea at the time, but I definitely do now, just how much this passion and never-give-up approach would rub off on me. Those who know and work with me will know this is very much the way I am at work – I never give up and hold onto to the belief that no matter what the problem, there is always a way to fix it.

Fast forward to around 2019. By this time I had met my wife and we’d had our first child, and he was now 2 years old. We would spend every Sunday at least travelling into town to see Grandad, where we would drink tea, eat chocolate bourbons and play with toys. Sadly, by this point, Dad had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's. At first, it’s simple forgetfulness, but that stage is short lived. Unfortunately, in the same year Dad had a stroke, which he then made the most marvellous recovery from. We got care for Dad to come check daily when we couldn't get there, but as time went on and things got worse, even the labelled dosette box wasn't helping. Dad was forgetting his medication or thinking he had taken it and putting them somewhere else.

Towards the end of that year, the first stories of Covid-19 were breaking, making it impossible for me to visit him with my son. It was then my time to step in and do the shopping and make regular visits throughout the pandemic – driving empty roads in lockdown to get Dad what he needed.

Around mid-2020 the new normal was here and everyone was adjusting to what we could and couldn't do – my second child was also due in November. Unfortunately, about a month or so before he was due, and the Alzheimer's had really taken hold, Dad decided to leave his property, heading for somewhere – destination unknown. Thankfully he was picked up by a passing patrol car, who saw an elderly gentleman wandering the streets amid a lockdown in sub-zero conditions. He was taken to NDDH for safety. I was contacted and at this time we were not allowed into hospitals so this was worrying. They kept Dad in for what seemed like forever before the inevitable happened - he caught Covid-19 so that meant isolation until he was well enough to be moved.

By December, he was well enough to be taken to South Molton hospital and by now, my newborn son had arrived. Around the 21st of December was the first time my Mum and I could go to see Dad though a window of the hospital and thankfully for us, he remembered who we were and begged the nurses to allow us in to see him, but we couldn't. The next day, the head nurse called me to say that we had to return to see Dad as he had taken a turn for the worst. Over the next few days, including Christmas Day, I would travel to the hospital to spend time with my Dad. This continued until the early hours of the morning on the 26th/27th December when I received the dreaded call to let me know that Dad had passed away.

My youngest never got to meet his Grandad, but his big brother and I have lots of stories to tell him and let him know how fantastic he was.

And because of this fantastic man who I am very proud to call my dad, I decided to take on the Three Peaks Challenge. In just one day, we will travel to Scotland and climb Ben Nevis, drive to Scafell Pike and climb that one and finally drive to Wales to scale Snowdon, all of which needs to be done within 24 hours from start to finish. By the end, we will have walked a total of around 22 miles and climbed around 11, 000 feet.

By doing this challenge, I hope we can raise some money to help the cause and make a difference in trying to fight this horrible disease.

I’m doing this for you, Dad. I won’t forget you.