Alzheimer’s Society – Oxford to Paris Cycle 27th August to 31st August

Dementia for those who have never experienced it is caused by diseases of the brain and can affect anyone. There are currently over 800,000 people with dementia in the UK, and this figure will rise to over 1 Million by 2021. Dementia is terminal and there is no cure. A staggering one in three people over 65 will die with a form of dementia.

Alzheimer’s Society supports people to live well with dementia today and funds research to find a cure for tomorrow. They provide information and support for people with all types of dementia, their families and their carers, touching the lives of over 30,000 people every week. It is with this in mind and in recognition of my beautiful nanna, on the 20th anniversary of her leaving us that myself and 7 incredible friends and family ( Ken, Mike, Sue, Frank, Natalie, Roisin and Stephanie), together with the support of many others, make the journey by bike from Oxford to Paris, in the hope that we will help make the smallest of differences to research and or the care of anyone suffering from dementia.

And so a bit more of the why….

My nanna was one of those people with dementia and so this “Journey” is personal. She was a loving, gregarious, outgoing and genuine lady, debilitated in her twilight years by a disease which initially left her with short term memory loss , ( which was always a bit funny!) and then in the end no recollection at all of the people who knew and cared for her most. I can still remember the look of total isolation and bewilderment in her eyes, as the family she had borne and cared for became people she didn’t recognise from any other stranger in the street.

I try not to think of “how” she must have felt as anything familiar became alien and the most mundane of routines became unsustainable. She had been a proud woman who cared about her appearance, was gentle of soul and loved children with all of her heart. The woman she became, couldn’t communicate in basic terms, dress herself or eventually recognise a single person. She lived in a closed world, isolated by the very thing that had made her that bright, articulate and loving lady – her mind.

So please “help” me and my amazing friends and family, (who are so insistent on supporting me) raise as much money as we can for this fantastic charity. Let’s try and make a huge difference to those 1 in 3 people who will at some point experience some, if not all of the things that my beautiful nanna experienced. It is only with continued fundraising and YOUR very kind help, that we will ever stand a chance of making a difference to this terrible disease.

And in advance, thanks to anyone who does feel compelled to get involved… We will make a difference to lots of lives.

Thanks you so much

Caroline