My beautiful, dynamic and unwaveringly kind mum was taken from us far too early. They call dementia death by a thousand cuts for a reason. Seeing someone you love gradually lose their creativity, intelligence and their recognition is beyond cruel. It is an indiscriminate disease, which punishes the whole family, and every 3 minutes, dementia steals a happily ever after.

My mum was described as a ‘Wonder woman’ by those she met. She had enormous compassion and energy, and seemed to fit in an abnormal amount of projects into one day. She was also known for her persistence against injustice. It was my mum who championed my skills and fought the system in order to protect my education. Little did I know at the time, but this would inspire me to one day quit my job and sell my home to set up my own school in her honour. I wanted so desperately to show her all we had achieved, but sadly, by the time the school had flourished she was unable to understand the world around her. Despite this, she knew we were something ‘special’ to her and would always return our ‘I love you’s. Upsettingly, there were also many times where she was convinced she was in danger, and it was heartbreaking to have to convince her otherwise.

Before my mum was diagnosed, I often associated dementia primarily with the very elderly, with a figure quietly sat in a chair. To have to restrain and/or rescue a very physically active woman from ‘fights’ and escapes out of the house at night took an enormous toll on my father and I. Before her diagnosis, I did not realise how very long and drawn out the process of deterioration would be, or that the caring was akin of that of my small children, yet there would be no happy ending.

Urgent research for a cure is the only way to remove this appalling potential future, and I was very surprised to learn that there are four Cancer researchers to every one Dementia cure researcher.

In honour of mum's lust for life (and a challenge!) I have decided to climb mount Snowdon for her, and in doing so raise as much money as possible towards helping find a cure. Mum didn't get the chance to see her beloved grandchildren grow up, or to enjoy her beautiful garden with my incredibly strong dad, Steve. But if our fundraising can stop anyone else having to go through this, I know she would be beyond proud of us all. If you can give anything at all, it will make a difference. Our fantastic local pub The Anchor has also very kindly agreed to leave out our collection bucket if preferred.

A note from Alzheimer's Research UK;

We are the UK's leading dementia research charity. We exist for a cure. Your donation helps our scientists and researchers find new ways to diagnose dementia, develop new treatments and find a cure for dementia. Watch and share our new film: https://bit.ly/ARUKForACure