As some of you will know, before my grandma died a few years ago, her mind had started to be destroyed by dementia.    On some days my gran would be so upset because she thinks her 5 year old (my dad) has gone missing, at her worst she didn't even know who her family were.  For those of you who haven't experienced this, it's very distressing and frightening for the person with the illness but equally it's extremely hard for the family to see their loved ones loose their mind, forget shared experiences and see a total change of personality.
The Alzheimer's society help in two ways.  They offer a lifeline for those affected by the disease with support groups, in-house care and things like their memory book projects and their 'singing for the brain' events (people often remember music long after their memories have gone..think how many songs you know vs how much maths you remember)
Secondly, they lead the way in research into preventing and treating dementia, something which is increasingly important as people are living longer; more and more of us will be affected by this illness in some way.
On the 19th I will be dragging myself around 21km in newcastle to raise money for this good cause.  Many of you have seen the blisters over the many months I have been training...  Many of you have seen me waddling along... this is what it's all been for and now I need you all to dig deep and make all the pain and effort worthwhile!

Thanks so much :)

p.s. gift aid your donation and cameron has to hand your hard earnt tax back over too!