Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page. Whether you're here to quickly donate or to also read the following account as to why I'm running the marathon, I am very grateful for your time / donation however big or small.

This year I have set myself the challenge of running the Brighton Marathon on April 6th 2025. For those of you that know me, you'll know that last year I set myself the new years resolution of taking up running. I've found it incredibly rewarding and has helped my mental health immensely... now am I taking it too far by running a marathon? I hope not!

Running a marathon I know is going to be a huge challenge and I started my training plan back in November. One thing that has been motivating me throughout the sometimes dark, rainy and gruelling runs is the fact that I would like to try and raise some money for Dementia UK. I'm running for my gran and the thousands of other people living with dementia, but also for the many families like mine who have a relative living with dementia. Dementia UK provides life-changing advice and support to anyone affected by dementia, so any donations to this fantastic charity are hugely appreciated.

For the majority of my life my gran has always been known as being funny, bubbly, sometimes a tad inappropriate, however very forgetful. It wasn't until my grandad passed in November 2016 that we realised the extent of gran's 'forgetfulness' so my mum took her to be assessed by a specialist. We had noticed how much my grandad had been masking my gran's behaviours through his constant care and support for her and it was then following this assessment that she was diagnosed with vascular dementia.

Fast forward to today and my gran will just about remember my name when I visit her in a lovely care home who specialise in looking after residents with dementia. She has now also been diagnosed with Alzheimer's and her appearance is changing and declining. We are blessed that her face still lights up when me and my family visit her but know this not to be the case for many others. I know when I tell my gran I'm running a marathon for Dementia UK she will probably roll her eyes and say "alright", forget about it then crack open a chocolate bar, but it is for this exact reason that I want to run for this great charity!

You can follow my strava account using this link where I have been documenting each training session: https://strava.app.link/88HaCmhEPPb