On June 12th 2023 Ian Waller (age 70 in august) will jump on his pedal assisted E bike and leave his home in Marton Middlesbrough. He is starting a 1250 mile journey to Lake Garda in Italy, a place which has magic memories for him and his late wife Cath, who sadly passed away on 10th December 2021. Ian and Cath visited Lake Garda many times over the years, which is one of the reasons why Ian is making the journey with Cath’s ashes for her to be laid to rest in her favourite place, Bardolino. Ian is also making this journey to raise funds for Alzheimer’s Society, a charity which Ian has very close to his heart. Ian is well aware of the impact Alzheimer’s has on families and their loved ones, as both his mum and Cath’s dad had the illness prior to their deaths. Cath always lived in fear that she would one day be diagnosed with the illness and sadly that fear came to fruition in September 2016 when Cath was told that she too had the illness. Upon being delivered the terrible blow Ian immediately ceased working and he and Cath spent as much time as they could together making many happy memories. Ian made 2 promises to himself, the first being that he would take care of her in the home they shared, and the second that he would go to Bardolino and scatter her ashes in their favourite place whilst raising money for the Alzheimer’s Charity. Ian fulfilled his first promise taking care of Cath at home, with the help of home carers and his family and friends right up until Cath sadly lost her fight against this cruel illness. Throughout her illness the only time Ian really left Cath was to cycle a few miles to clear his mind. Ian has worked hard training for his journey despite having had 2 new knees in 2022 but this has never deterred him. Ian is determined to lay Cath to rest in their favourite place and at the same time raise as much money as possible for the Alzheimer’s Charity. His journey to Garda will take him approximately 3 weeks and upon arrival he will spend a week or so cycling around the lake visiting many places reliving special memories that he and Cath made over the years. He will end his journey in Bardolino where he will scatter Cath’s ashes and finally lay her to rest. Please help us by donating anything you can to help the amazing people find treatment and even, one day hopefully, a cure for this terrible disease.

Please understand that Ian is funding the whole trip, food, hotels and all transport costs himself and EVERY PENNY raised is going directly to THE ALZHEIMERS SOCIETY.

Thank you for taking the time to read