Growing up my grandparents played a vital role in my life, from visiting them regularly on Sundays after church to spending holidays with them when my family moved to Germany.

The memories with my grandparents go back as long as I can remember - quite literally! The joys of visiting them, where they always had entertainment and more importantly good home made food! The memories will undoubtedly stay with me for ever. 

They always supported my education, even more so when I made the decision to follow in my grandfather's footsteps and become an engineer. His enthusiasm was infectious, but sadly overcast by his progressing Alzheimer's - the more I learnt the less he remembered. Frustratingly for both of us, no matter how he tried, he could not remember the details of what he did and could no longer share the knowledge he once had. 

In my final year at university, my grandfather succumbed to the disease and passed away - surrounded by his family, including myself. I returned to university after a time off and settled down to studying - determined more than ever to get as high marks as I could. I graduated from University with a Masters degree in Engineering with Distinction, a feat only possible due to the support I had from my grandparents. 

Since that day, my grandmother has supported my career and was always there to celebrate the victories and offer support in the difficult times. Sadly she started suffering from Vascular Dementia. With the wonderful support from my parents, she was able to carry on and enjoy life for a few more years, even getting to meet both my sons before also finally passing at home in February. 

Fundraising for the Alzheimers Association was my dad's idea and he has already absolved one 13 mile walk despite his own personal difficulties and in doing so has raised money in aid of this great charity. 

I am proud to support him in memory of his parents to help a charity which is there to provide support to others in the same situation we found ourselves in:

"Alzheimer’s Society are working towards a world where dementia no longer devastates lives. They do this by giving help to those living with dementia today and by providing hope for the future by campaigning to make dementia the priority it should be and funding ground-breaking research. Thank you for choosing to donate Alzheimer's Society, together we can be help and hope to everyone affected by dementia."