There are 3 reasons why I am undertaking this Memory Walk :

1) To enable people who are much cleverer than myself to carry on with their vital research into dementia in the hope that the lives of millions could be improved.

2) To celebrate the work of those  who look after people affected by dementia, either in their own homes or in dementia care homes, such as the one where I volunteer, the Apple Trees in Grantham.  Their work is hard, compassionate, patient and largely untrumpeted. Every dementia patient has their own story which deserves to be heard. They also have a right to be treated with respect and dignity. I applaud all of the people who work so hard to this end.

3) To honour the memory of my own Mum, Mary, whose final years were blighted by vascular dementia to the point where she was almost unrecognisable as the kind, wise, intelligent person she had been for the previous 80 years of a life well lived. I say "almost" because she was still my Mum - something betrayed occasionally by the occasional, much treasured, glimmers of recognition and flashes of her "old self".

Around 225,000 people develop dementia every year – that's the equivalent to one person every three minutes. This September and October Memory Walks will be taking place across England, Wales and Northern Ireland to raise money for a world without dementia. Arm in arm, step by step and pound by pound, we will get there. Once you donate, Just Giving will send your money directly to the Alzheimer's Society. So it's the most efficient way to raise money – saving time and cutting costs for the charity. Please dig deep and help us walk for a world without dementia.