Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

I’m running the London Marathon on April 27th 2025 in memory of my Dad, John Kirby, who passed away in February 2016, having being diagnosed with from a form of dementia in 2012.

Dementia comes in many forms, from those more well known such as Alzheimer’s disease and Vascular dementia, to the less known and understood, including Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome that my Dad suffered from, a form of the disease caused by long term alcohol abuse, more commonly categorised as Alcoholic Dementia.

My Dad’s diagnosis in September 2012 came at an incredibly difficult time for my older brother and I having lost our Mother in July of the same year. Due to the nature of my Dad’s specific condition, his cognitive deterioration was sudden, rapid and unfortunately irreversible, meaning that we, at the relatively young ages of 26 and 22, were faced with our lives changing significantly, as we looked ahead to arranging suitable ongoing care for our Dad.

Fortunately for us Dementia U.K. as a charity not only support those suffering with dementia, but also their families. They provided invaluable support and guidance to my family to ensure that not only we were OK, but that we knew how best to support our Dad in all aspects of his life so that his best interests were always able to be prioritised. This in turn reduced our stress and meant we could enjoy the time we had with our Dad in his later years.

Dementia U.K’s Admiral Nurses provide free, life-changing support and advice to anyone affected by dementia, and I can genuinely say their help and guidance made our lives that much easier from our Dad’s diagnosis.

944,000 people in the U.K. are estimated to be living with dementia, a number likely to rise as people live longer.

In my opinion, having experienced what they do first hand, Dementia U.K. is a wonderful charity who provided a lot of assistance to my family, so I’d like to repay this by fundraising for them by running the London Marathon in 2025!

Any donation large or small will be hugely appreciated and will provide me all the motivation I need to carry myself over the line after a 26.2 mile run for the first time!

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.