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It is our mission to raise awareness for Alzheimer’s and the devastating effects it has.

This is our little story of Dads journey so far

Our Dad is a very special man, his character has always been unassuming, kind hearted with one cracking laugh.. We are a large loving family who have always spent a lot of time together, with friends and families alike at parties and house gatherings.

Alzheimer’s came in to our life about 8 years ago and at this time we didn’t know a-lot about the disease. After spending some time trying to understanding it a little better, we could see the characteristics being displayed by Dad I.e: confusion, forgetfulness, inability to coordinate tasks and form words into sentences.

As the Alzheimer’s progressed slowly we could see changes in behaviour.  It’s very scary when you receive the diagnosis as we knew from research there is no cure. It made us very aware that we had to make the most of our time with Dad and make special memories

One of the first major things to happen to Dad, was having his driving licence taken away. The main reasons were for the withdrawal of his license was his lack of concentration and confusion of his whereabouts

Dad has always loved driving all thorough our childhood and Dad had some great cars when I was young. This was really hard for Dad to accept..

Dad turned his attention to football, he has always loved football and was friends with many of the Leeds United players when he was young. He joined the over 50’s football team in Harrogate, he really enjoyed his time at the club until he came to the point where he was too confused to carry on.  We knew Dad lived for the days when football would be on, and he would be up early in his boots ready to go even though he was 5 hours too early, which is often a characteristic of Alzheimer’s

When Covid hit, Dad seemed to get much worse and this is because he is used to being with people, being part of a discussion or listening to a conversation. Although he didn’t often understand what we were talking about Dad would want to be in the heart of it, contributing in his own way and always laughing ..

18 months later, Mum was introduced to the ‘Rainbow Day Care’ and Dad was given an opportunity to attend their clubs twice a week.

These clubs are run by amazing men and women who have so much understanding of Alzheimer’s, but also care for the men and women that attend. Dad trusts them and he loves going, he is always very happy to go and has made many friends. Whilst at the clubs they do a variety of activities to stimulate the ‘loved ones’ as they say, it’s also a bonus for mum to have a break and see her friends

We really appreciate these day care facilities, they know our Dad, they have got to know him and love his gentle warming nature and more importantly know how devastating Alzheimer’s can be..

Without these clubs, Dads Alzheimer's would have progressed so much more and we would definitely have lost another part of him.

Instead we still have our Dad who sits at the table with us and joins in all family gatherings and continues to laugh, although he can no longer talk sentences, we try to help him join in by putting the words together with him. 

We really don’t know what we will do when we don’t hear Dad laughing anymore

It is heartbreaking for us all as a family. Mum is a strong woman but does find things hard looking after Dad all day and through the night.

We have to remember that Alzheimer’s can make all your routines and behaviours change as the confusion progresses. One day Dad could make a cup of tea and then one day couldn’t. Something so simple becomes utter confusion for someone with Alzheimer’s and this is just one simple example of an everyday task we all do without thinking about it.

One of the worst symptoms is that they can’t recognise who family members are.

Alzheimer’s is a devastating illness on so many levels and there is no cure.

For us now the most important thing we are concentrating on, is raising awareness of this most devastating illness and raising funds for the Alzheimer’s society

We will be taking part in lots of different activities over the next year and would love your support through sharing our stories and supporting our cause.

Please donate as you wish to a cause close to our hearts

For Dad, we love you forever