This is my Grandad, John. Back in the day he was an avid and incredibly talented hockey player, and would often be found in and around Timperley Hockey Club (his favourite place on Earth, other than Woolacombe). He is a life-long Man-United supporter (he wouldn’t want me to leave this out) and the absolute epitome of a ‘cheeky chappy’, a trait which he’s fortunately maintained despite the toll that his Vascular Dementia diagnosis has had on him.

Grandad has always had a way with words, particularly random, rather obscure sayings that he recycles almost every time I see him. One of his favourites is ‘Do you get my drift?’ usually accompanied by a wink.

This pretty much encapsulates Grandad - he has and always will be a joker, an attribute which I am incredibly grateful has remained with him despite his memory loss. Over the years it has been extremely difficult to lose parts of Grandad’s personality, something which is arguably the most difficult effect of Dementia to deal with. Whilst Grandad isn’t always aware of his forgetfulness, it has a drastic domino effect on all of us around him. Without getting too personal, it’s terrible to watch him forget who I am, along with Grandma and his daughters. It’s because of this that I’m walking not only for Grandad, but also for my Mum, Auntie, Grandma, sister and cousins. For all the thousands that Dementia and Alzheimer’s affect, there are thousands of others who suffer the consequences and impact of the diagnosis.

My family and I would be incredibly grateful for any donations, which will directly fund and support research into the possibility of prevention, and hopefully one day, cure for Dementia and Alzheimer’s. Thank you so much!

A note on Alzheimer’s Society:

Alzheimer’s Society are working towards a world where dementia no longer devastates lives. They do this by giving help to those living with dementia today and by providing hope for the future by campaigning to make dementia the priority it should be and funding ground-breaking research.