Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

My wife of 47 years, Moira, has vascular dementia. She was diagnosed in 2019 although it had been obvious things weren’t quite right a while before that. I cared for her at home until August 2023 by which time she had deteriorated so much she was admitted to a care home.

Moira and I were very lucky that we had a very supportive family though they did live over 250 miles away. We also had a good circle of friends who all helped us through this difficult time. Moira had four very special friends who took her out to the cinema, for meals, to craft fairs etc. This was a huge benefit to Moira and especially to myself as it gave me a break from my caring duties. She also had retired teacher friends who went for lunch with her on the last Thursday of every month. Friends were also dropping in for a cuppa and a chat. All these things made coping with the dementia a lot easier than it might have been.

When Moira entered the care home I decided I had to give myself something to aim for. This is when I decided I would walk the John o Groats Trail. It is a recently developed 147 mile mainly coastal trail which goes from Inverness in the south to John o Groats. I used to walk a lot in my teenage years but have done very little walking for the last fifty five years. Everyone is not as lucky as Moira and I were in having a good circle of friends. This is why I decided to make my walk a sponsored one and to raise some funds for Alzheimer Scotland who provide support for sufferers from dementia and their carers. They also give funds for research into dementia.

My plan is to do the walk from the 13th to the 26th of May 2024. I will keep you updated on my progress. Anyone who would like to come and join me to walk one or more stages would be most welcome. Full details of the stages and the trail are on the website https://www.jogt.org.uk.