The thought of turning 20 is frightening especially when you feel like you haven't really done anything substantial in your life and so on a quiet evening at the beginning of this year, I decided to make a 20 before 20 list. A bucket list of all the things I wanted to do before I turned 20 so that when I got there, I'd feel a little more capable and of course my bucket list had to include sky diving.

What started as a silly little list that I didn't really know if I could complete quickly turned into “okay but what if I actually do it?” and then with the help of my two friends (Joe and Libby) it quickly turned into “okay but what if we did it for a cause that really matters?” which brings us here. We have taken on a huge task of raising £450 each in order to help fund research, as well as providing support for those who are currently fighting it and finally we plan to jump during dementia week this may.

We chose to fundraise for Alzheimer’s because it’s something that quietly affects so many people and families, yet often doesn’t get talked about enough. The thought of losing one's memories is incredibly sad because to me, our memories are what give our life meaning. After doing much more research and after beginning to fundraise, I realised it's so much more. It’s watching someone you love slowly lose parts of themselves, their independence, and the little everyday things we take for granted and this is now a cause I deeply care about. Whilst I have been fortunate enough to never have a loved one face this problem, many people I know weren't as lucky and through hearing their stories, I've realised how I can not take this for granted. I lost both of my grandparents as a child but I never had to watch them forget me and now I want to help make sure fewer people have to go through the pain of being forgotten.

Our fundraising journey has just begun but we plan to do bake sales (after our first being successful as seen above), write articles in hopes of raising awareness, host pub quizzes, swims and much more. Thank you for all the support and we appreciate everyone who gets involved through donating or purely just showing up!