Extreme Knitting Redhead: Ninfield Gala

Sunday, November 29, 2009

Ninfield Gala

Mike and I had a lovely evening yesterday as guests at the Ninfield Gala, an event to raise money for the village and for charities. The village holds a Carnival each summer and this year had decided to split the proceeds between 2 Alzheimer's charities - the Alzheimer's Research Trust who I support and the Alzheimer's Society.

They had contacted the Alzheimer's Research Trust and asked if anyone could come along to receive the cheque on their behalf and as I live quite nearby I was happy to attend. The 2 ladies from the Alzheimer's Society were actual employees of the charity as opposed to just being an active fund-raiser as I am.

The hospitality of the villagers was wonderful and we were treated to a lovely evening including a tremendous performance from the Brighton Revue Company who wowed us with their witty sketches and singing.

This photo was taken at the start of the evening and I hope it makes it into the local paper to get some publicity for the Alzheimer's Research Trust. When the real presentation was made I was completely overwhelmed by everyone's generosity and had to fight back the tears. You'd think that after 4 years of fund-raising I'd have more control but I often find that acts of kindness intensify the pain I feel about how mum suffered.

After the presentation of the cheques (where there was some confusion over the names of the charities - the Alzheimer's Society is the massive charity with loads of employees and branches all over the place whereas the Alzheimer's Research Trust is much smaller and completely focussed on research) there was a raffle.

Afterwards, 2 people very generously offered back their prizes to be auctioned for charity and when the winning bids had been secured the auctioneer asked which charity the money should go to. They said "Alzheimer's" and he said "Right, the money will go to the Alzheimer's Society then". I don't think he realised that there were actually 2 charities and I'm sure he didn't mean to exclude the Alzheimer's Research Trust but I felt a bit crest-fallen. The lady from the Alzheimer's Society must have spotted my disappointment and said "don't worry, we'll split it", which was kind.

I've often found that it's the so-called 'research' charities that have to try extra hard to raise funds because searching for a cure doesn't seem to get as much publicity as palliative care. I hope that I can help to change that with my fund-raising as I firmly believe that finding a way to prevent or control the disease is the way forward.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Mum's Story

In 1997 my mother, then aged 81, had a series of minor strokes. Shortly after that we started to notice behavioural changes notably memory loss and confusion over everyday items. We thought it was just old age finally catching up with her. Then she started wandering and had violent mood swings. Although she already lived with us it became obvious that she couldn't be left alone for long and so I left my job to care for her. The next few years saw a gradual decline into the blackness that is 'vascular dementia'. My normally placid mum became violent and aggressive. She had psychotic incidents where she would see imaginary people (children hiding in her wardrobe, Russians sitting on the stairs, women stealing her clothes) and she would shout at them and sometimes throw things too. She was so convincing that we used to go and check that there wasn't anyone there! When my sister died mum did not know who Judy was or that she was her daughter. There came a point when I suddenly realised she no longer knew that I was her daughter and this was a terrible time for me. In the last 2 years that she lived with us, life for us all became almost unbearable as she needed 24 hour care - she couldn't be left alone at all because she would either wander off or hurt herself, she never slept for more than 30 minutes at a time during the night, she became incontinent and incapable of doing anything for herself. Finally my husband and I realised that we could no longer provide her with the care that she needed and she went to live in a special care home where the team did a splendid job caring for her in the last few months of her life. There she lived a zombified existence unaware of who she was, what she was or where she was. It was heartbreaking. She died in March 2005, the day after her 89th birthday.

Thank you for taking the time to read mum's story and I hope you'll dig deep and sponsor me using the link below to help find a way of beating this destructive disease.