The McGillivray family have decided to set ourselves a challenge and take part in Memory Walk this September for World Alzheimer’s Month. On Sunday 20th September we will join tens of thousands of people up and down the country getting ready to walk for loved ones.

It is both meaningful and personal to all of us, as we will be walking in memory of our dear Uncle Alex, whilst raising money for the Alzheimer's society.

Earlier this year, during this Covid pandemic we lost a great man to this disease. Unfortunately, due to the circumstances we never got a chance to say goodbye in the way he deserved, which still hurts to this day. 

Alex was an absolute gentleman and family man, with a great sense of humour - he was always cracking jokes and always had people laughing. He was a great Aberdeen FC supporter and followed them religiously at Pittodrie, when possible.  He encouraged this following through the next two generations of family and that will live on through our children.  He spent many years at sea, and experienced many countries through work and holidays, along with his wife Iso. He lived an active healthy life, even as a pensioner.

Unfortunately, suspicions grew with the changes in Alex's behaviour and short-term memory loss, he was tested and diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.  Over the next few years we gradually lost the Uncle we knew, this awful disease robbing us of the man we loved. His fabulous personality slowly diminished and although we saw him occasionally, it was heart-breaking watching him decline. From a man who used to laugh and joke with us all, entertain and tease the kids, he ended up unable to do even the most basic of tasks. It became a 24 hour, 7 day a week, 365 days a year responsibility for our auntie, Iso.

After 3 and a 1/2 years of constant 24/7 care with no respite Iso, made the very difficult and painful decision that a care home would be a better option and safer for Alex who by now had become too confused and impossible to care for.

The disease made it impossible for Alex to understand why he was in care.  He moved between care homes and hospital.  He passed away on 31^st March 2020 and we all still miss him every day.

I along with millions of others would like to see this cruel disease eradicated so the family are walking in memory of Alex as a tribute to him and to raise much needed funds for the Alzheimer’s Society.

There is no cure for Alzheimer's disease, only medication which is available that can help relieve some of the symptoms and slow down the progression of the condition in some individuals.

Many people believe that Alzheimer's disease is just a loss of memory, dementia is so much more and causes confusion, disorientation and can cause the individual to get lost in familiar places. Causes great difficulty when planning or making decisions, problems with speech and language, problems with moving around without assistance or performing self-care tasks.

Thank you for taking the time to visit our JustGiving page and by donating you are supporting the Alzheimer's society and their vision of a world without dementia.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

My employer Chivas Bros, will match any funding raised so please, please donate and help us support this amazing charity.