Six years ago, my mum was diagnosed with a rare form of Alzheimer’s called PCA. She was just 53 years old. Our father David  who has been married to Mum for over 25 years explained to us that this form of dementia initially has an effect on an individual's spacial awareness and sight. This then continues to deteriorate. My brother Oliver, sister Emma and I were all under the age of 18. There is no cure for PCA/Alzheimer’s, meaning we have had to be prepared to witness our mother and dads best friend lose her capability, along with her growing confusion, radical emotional changes that affect her personality, loss of independence and, ultimately, the loss of her memory. It has been a difficult six years since mum’s initial diagnosis, and we all still can’t comprehend the fact that this has happened to us. But life must go on. 

Saying this, the incredible people around myself and my family are embarking on a journey to turn something negative, into something a bit more positive. We hope that our efforts will help support the research into dementia, in all it's forms, hopefully leading to better treatments and, ultimately, a cure. 

Thirty of our close friends and family will be running 10K on the 21st July in London for The Alzheimer’s Society. Our goal is to raise as much money as we can, in order to help the push for further research into dementia/Alzheimer’s, thus bringing hope to families in the future. Our wish would be that one day, a family getting a diagnosis might, instead of having feelings of hopelessness, instead have a glimmer of hope, because there is a potential cure. Then these families do not have to go through what we are going through as a family.  

My family and I would like to personally thank you, in advance, for any donation that may help turn our goal into a reality. Any gift, however small, would be hugely appreciated.