Hello, thanks very much for taking the time out to read my page and hopefully for donating...

On the 20th January 2009 my dad lost his battle with Alzheimer's and passed away.  This has had a pretty profound affect on mine and my family's lives.  It has helped us all review our thoughts and outlooks whilst also bringing us all much closer together.

I have seen first hand the cruel affects this disease has on people and watched it quite literally turn my dad into a stranger who couldn't remember his own family.

This year, amongst other events I am doing the Fred Whitton Challenge.  I decided to opt to publicise and request sponsorship for this event for a few reasons:

1.   The event itself is tough.  112 miles and over 3000 metres of climbing up the steepest passes in the lake district (They are not uncommon to pass 30%).  It is rumoured as one of the toughest sportives any cyclist can do.

2.   The event is relatively prestigious within the cycling world; often hailed as, "One to do before you die".  As such places are very limited so I have been lucky to secure one.

3.   I think it will be a suitably tough challenge and a very worthy cause to sponsor.

Most of you who know me know how keen I am on cycling so I thought this was the ideal combination to combine something I love and a cause I hold so dear.

Alzheimer's is a debilitating disease and ruins lives, the money you donate will go towards funding research for a cure and helping current suffers and their families life to be the best they can.  Caring for someone with Alzheimer's is incredibly tough and time consuming and any family going through this needs all the support they can get.

As I hope you appreciate now, this is a cause very close to my heart and I feel very worthwhile.  With your support and donations we can help fund care and research to make Alzheimer's a thing of the past.

If anyone is interested in learning more about the event, details can be found here:

http://ridewithgps.com/routes/3768661    Route

http://www.fredwhittonchallenge.co.uk/    Event Details 

If you would like to learn more about Alzheimer's and where your money could go, details are here: https://www.alzheimers.org.uk 

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.  I really appreciate any and every donation given, no matter how little.

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