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Emma's story: "We want to raise money to make sure there are more Admiral Nurses"

Emma tells the story of the emotionally and physically challenging London to Brighton challenge she took on with her friend Anna to raise money for Dementia UK.

Emma and Anna with a friend

Emma and Anna with a friend

I have to admit, when we first saw the challenge online, we were more excited by the idea of a walking challenge – surely much more pleasant than running a Marathon or climbing a mountain!?

But we came to realise that walking 100km, taking 20-30 hours through day and night, up surprisingly high hills, was NOT going to be quite the walk in the park we first thought.

The training involved very long walks for hours through the day. That said, it was a lot of fun and we spent a lot of time out in the sun raising our step count. We walked the Waterford Greenway in Ireland, which was absolutely beautiful.

I completed the London to Brighton challenge in 26 hours 9 minutes and 55 seconds, finishing just after 10am the next day. The blisters on my feet were a mark of success and I have never slept so well as I did later that day.

The walk was both emotionally and physically challenging.  But I can’t explain how lovely the support was around. Locals left out chairs with rest stops, with glasses of water and oranges; not to mention the moral support from the other people taking part.

Anna and I couldn’t feel more passionately about the care provided for those living with Dementia. We work together in care for the elderly, helping people affected by dementia to live as independently as possible at home. We see first-hand, every day, how individuals and families are impacted by the condition. We also see how important it is to get the best support from your community, and work together with other organisations working towards the same goal.

Supporting Admiral Nurses

We chose to support Dementia UK when fundraising for our London to Brighton Challenge as we can see the amazing work their Admiral Nurses do! The personalised support and guidance of a Dementia UK Admiral Nurse is lifechanging for people living with dementia, and we want to raise as much as we can to make sure there are more Admiral Nurses in the UK.

We have now signed up for a second challenge this year. We will be walking the Thames Bridges Trek together with another colleague Fred. Training is underway and we are so excited to support Dementia UK again this year with another walk!