Committed people

The London Marathon took place last month and we received great photos and an upbeat story from one of our runners, Heidi Simms, last Friday. Heidi happens also to be our most successful fundraiser at this event this year, though there is time for others to close the gap as their fundraising continues.

We really value the huge effort that people put into raising funds through sponsored events. It involves a big physical effort, of course – the training and then the event itself – but it also requires work of a different sort to gather sponsorship. The biggest BRACE fundraiser at last year’s London Marathon, Nina Barrett, gathered a team of friends around her and was very creative with her fundraising, passing an astonishing £6,300.

It’s not just the London Marathon, of course, and it’s not just running. Supporters have cycled, swum, abseiled, parachuted, tackled an assault course, climbed mountains and bounced on a bouncy castle to raise funds. There are more sedentary ways of holding a sponsored event if you feel both motivated and exhausted after reading this list.

The benefit to BRACE is often in the message this sends out as much as in the variable totals raised. I get to meet or correspond with people who are passionate about fighting dementia, usually because a loved has the condition or died with dementia not long ago. Those who help us most – whether in terms of fundraising or the stories they tell – are those for whom the cause is a passion and the activity a means to an end.

One of the most remarkable is Jo Earlam who, like Heidi, comes from Devon. She is committed to running 50 marathons before she reaches 50 and has used much of this prolonged exertion to help BRACE in a variety of ways. Dementia has touched her life with pain and this is her defiant response.

So, we are looking for more defiant people to do things for us. People who can raise money, but also people who are happy to send us great photos and moving stories that can become part of the bigger story we are telling. It doesn’t require athleticism or even much physical effort and it should be enjoyable to those who take part. What would you like to do to help us fight dementia?

There is some helpful advice on our sponsored events page.