Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.  I appreciate that for all of us Covid-19 means that it is a very difficult time emotionally and for many it is also financially precarious.  Please do not feel obliged to donate, I want to share my jogging experience through the crisis as I use it to try to maintain my physical & mental health.  My plan is to post regular updates here.

Running Down Dementia asks people to run, jog or walk 100k, 300k or whatever they like between 1 April & 31 August.  I will not set a distance target because the current restrictions we are living under may be tightened or relaxed in the next weeks.  I will record my weekly jogging totals and see where we get to on a route heading from Stockton to Lands End.

My wife Pat was diagnosed with Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD) in 2012, 18 months after her retirement as a nurse in the NHS. This answered many questions we had about things that had taken place over the previous 5 years. Following her diagnosis her decline was rapid resulting in loss of speech, an inability to swallow and for the final months she was forced to use a wheelchair. Throughout her ordeal she was always able to recognise us all and was aware until very close to the end of her life.

Since her diagnosis I have been working to raise awareness of early onset dementia and also to raise funds for dementia charities such as Alzheimer's Research UK who kindly posted our story on their blog in 2017 (https://www.dementiablog.org/eight-phases-of-ftd/).

Last year I raised funds for dementia research running a marathon at the parkruns along the A66 (see https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/a66parkrunmarathon) and the wonderful team at Workington parkrun appear on the front page photo.  When we get through this I'm really looking forward to joining them all on a parkrunday.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.