We’re taking part in the Alzheimer’s Society Memory Walk on 3rd October at Heaton Park in loving memory of my mother in law, Ann, and in honour of my dad, Derek. This walk means more to us than words can say. It’s our way of speaking out about what dementia truly is, how hard it is to get help, and how deeply it reshapes the lives of families like ours.

Dementia isn’t one illness, it’s an umbrella term for a multitude of varieties. Ann had Alzheimer’s and we sadly lost her in February. In April my Dad was diagnosed with vascular dementia with frontal lobe damage. People assume dementia just affects memory. However, with vascular dementia, your personality, behaviour, understanding and reasoning are also affected.

Getting a diagnosis is a battle. As we’ve experienced, symptoms are dismissed, concerns aren’t heard, and you are left fighting for someone to listen. This can take months or sometimes years, and all the time you are seeing the changes and not knowing what to do. Then the diagnosis finally comes, you feel relief because you finally have answers, but heartbreak because there is no cure.

Right now, 982,000 people in the UK are living with dementia. By 2040, that number will reach 1.4 million. One in three people born today will develop dementia in their lifetime.

We’re walking to raise awareness, to stand with families facing the same heartbreak, and to help Alzheimer’s Society continue its vital work. Fundraising research, improving support, and giving hope for a future where no one faces dementia alone.

Every donation, no matter the size, truly means the world to us.

Thank you