The Adventure of the Trek26

In September, I'm going to be trekking 26 miles around Stonehenge for Alzheimer's Society. 

It's a cause which means a lot to me. When I was a child, I could only watch helplessly as my lovely grandmother became an echo of her former self due to Alzheimer's. I learned about the condition on a family holiday when my Nan wandered into my bedroom and my parents had to explain it to me. I was horrified that such a thing existed but I didn't understand for a while what it meant for my Nan. As the years went by, she deteriorated and the family was robbed of an amazing woman. 

My grandfather had to sacrifice his own life and well-being to care for her and took on the vast majority of the burden himself. Family and friends did their best to help but there was limited help from outside agencies. 

Nearly two decades on from my grandmother's death, not much has changed. Whilst there is gradual progress in treating most medical conditions, a cure for dementia doesn't seem any closer. This is where the Alzheimer's Society come in. Part of what they do is funding research, putting more money into the process of one day finding a cure and therefore making it happen sooner rather than later. They also provide help and support to those affected by dementia and those that care for them. During the pandemic, they've worked really hard to support people through extremely difficult circumstances, with a new support line and new online tools. 

Whilst I can only tell my personal link to dementia, it's a huge issue right now. More than 850,000 people in the UK have dementia, with over 40,000 of those under 65. One in 14 people over the age of 65 have dementia and one in 6 over the age of 80 have it. There's a good chance you have a personal connection to dementia or that you will do in the future if you haven't already. 

So, I'm walking around Salisbury Plain in September. It's been confirmed that it's going ahead with social distancing and other safety measures. Now I do walk quite a bit but I'm still overweight and unfit. I regularly do four-mile walks and occasionally a bit further but twenty-six miles is another league entirely. Over the summer I'm going to be walking more and more in an attempt to get fitter. I know this is not something I'm just going to be able to turn up and do so I'm going to train as much as I can. 

You've probably worked out where this is heading- I'm going to ask you for money. I hope I've convinced you by now that this is a worthy cause. At the bottom of this post is a button that will take you to my JustGiving page. If you could donate something I'd be hugely grateful. The minimum amount is £2 and if that's all you can spare then it would still be very welcome. If you can donate more, then that would be great. You can donate anonymously if you'd like or leave your name, perhaps with the initial of your surname so I know who you are. 

There's a good chance you'll see me harp on about this on social media or elsewhere and if you donate now you be an early bird and sit back feeling pleased with yourself. I'll post a few training updates on the JustGiving page and I will write about the trek itself here, hopefully on the day after if I've got the energy!

Thank you so much!

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