Bute woman’s marathon effort to fight dementia

A woman from Bute is joining the charge towards a cure for dementia by taking on the Virgin Money London Marathon 2019 to raise money for pioneering research.

Louisa Davidson, training at the Straad, Bute.

Louisa Davidson (31) will be running the iconic 26.2-mile race on April 28 to support the Dementia Revolution.

The Dementia Revolution is a special one-year campaign from Alzheimer’s Society and Alzheimer’s Research UK, who have joined forces as Charity of the Year for the 2019 Virgin Money London Marathon.

The campaign is raising money for the most ambitious dementia research endeavour the UK has ever seen – the UK Dementia Research Institute.

Louisa Davidson (centre) pictured with her grandpa (right) who lived with dementia and grandma (left).

Someone in the UK develops this devastating condition every three minutes, which slowly strips people of their memories and identities – yet dementia research is still hugely underfunded compared to other terminal conditions.

Louisa is delighted to be helping this campaign.

She said: “London 2019 will be my very first marathon and I feel privileged to be running for two such incredible charities. I have a very personal reason to run as my grandpa lived with Alzheimer’s in his later years.

“I have been overwhelmed by the response from friends, family and the local community, and I’d like to thank everyone who has supported me with words of encouragement, training advice and donations.

“Together we can beat dementia.”

Louisa has raised more than £2,300 so far and hopes to boost this total with a bag packing event at the Co-op on Bridge Street, Rothesay, next Saturday, March 9.

To sponsor Louisa go to: https://bit.ly/2V6ttt2

Nina Ziaullah, Dementia Revolution campaign manager, said: “Dementia is the biggest health threat facing society and there are currently no effective treatments to slow, prevent or cure it. Today, almost a million people are living with dementia in the UK. But dementia is not a lost cause. With the help of our amazing runners we can and will end it with research.

“On marathon day we will have the largest ever team of runners raising funds for dementia research. We can’t thank them enough for making a stand with us and joining the charge toward a cure.”

For further information about the Dementia Revolution, including how you can support the campaign by volunteering on marathon day, go to www.dementiarevolution.org.