The London Marathon is one of the world’s most popular and iconic running events, with over 40,000 people running 26.2 miles from Greenwich to The Mall. We’ll be cheering extra loudly for six runners raising money for Race Against Dementia. All to help fund exciting new dementia research projects in the UK and beyond.
Alan Hornibrook says Race Against Dementia is a charity very close to his family’s heart as his father passed away in 2019 with sub cortical vascular dementia, a horrible disease that completely devastated the life of his dad who previously was so fit, healthy and full of life.
Amy Jayne Southam is running in memory of her wonderful Nanny who passed away before Christmas. “She was an extremely active lady who loved the outdoors, she would be so proud to know I’m running London in her memory. Despite her illness she remained ever positive and loving.”
Katie Botha is raising money for Race Against Dementia in honour of her biggest cheerleader, her “beautiful dad”, who she sadly lost last year after a heroic fight following a past brain aneurysm, traumatic head injury and subsequent impairment. He was, and always will be, Katie’s hero.
Michael von der Becke is running in memory of two “fallen heroes,” Ray Cook and Barbara von der Becke.
Mark Pearson is running the marathon for the fifth time. Mark says, “My dad was one of those people. Before he started suffering with dementia, he had been a bright, capable fun-loving husband and father who enjoyed sport, gardening and completing tough cryptic crosswords that I have no hope of ever doing. By the end, he had lost the ability to speak and couldn’t carry out the most basic of functions, including dressing and feeding himself. He was 100% reliant on my mum to care for him.”
Jessica Ray is fundraising in loving memory of her grandpa, Alan Starkey, who lost his fight with dementia in December 2022.
Dementia is growing worldwide, with an estimated 55 million sufferers and 10 million new cases each year. The World Health Organisation calculated the cost of dementia to economies globally was 1.3 trillion US dollars in 2019 with “approximately 50% of these costs [being] attributable to care provided by informal carers (e.g. family members and close friends), who provide on average five hours of care and supervision per day.”
To support the fundraisers running for Race Against Dementia, please click their names above to visit their JustGiving pages and if you are taking part in a fundraising event and would like to support our charity, please email fundraising@raceagainstdementia.com. We would love to hear from you.
