Next Tuesday, 1st December, is the halfway point in my sixtyat60 challenge - and so I'd like to give you a quick update on my progress.
I'm quite chuffed to be able to tell you that to date I've completed a total of 27 tasks, with two more tasks lined up this week (bread/crab apple jelly making tomorrow followed by skating at Somerset House on Saturday - can't wait!) And if I keep wading my way through War and Peace over the next 5 days (right now I'm on page 698 of 1316 so I have some midnight oil to burn), that means I will have ticked 30 tasks off my list by 1st December. So it looks like I'm on schedule - juuusst.....
I do so appreciate everyone's support over the last six months - you've been fantastic companions on tasks, you've cheered me on at the sidelines and you've given me endless kind words of encouragement together with small doses of tough love where required. And to date I've received donations amounting to £1697 for Alzheimer's Research UK, which is amazing!!
In this last week of fund-raising for Alzheimer's Research UK, I'd like to introduce my lovely neighbour Di to you. Di knows first-hand what it's like to care with someone with dementia. When her husband John, a much loved local GP, developed dementia, she looked after him devotedly for several years. This is how she described her experiences to me.
'I was carer to my husband for three years whilst he suffered with Alzheimer's disease. Being alert and on hand for 24/7 was a tiring and very lonely experience as he confused night with daytime - he was active at night and wanted to sleep most of the day.
It would have been so helpful if there had been some sort of support system to help the carer (me!) to have even one hour off duty, either to do the shopping, to sleep, or just to sit in the garden, knowing that someone would have been able to talk to and watch over him. The person with Alzheimer's is often in their own, perhaps unreal world, whereas the carer carries all the worries and responsibilities'.
During those years, I saw what an absolute star Di was in caring for John and she never complained about her situation. But I think her words convey very clearly the unremitting and exhausting impact of dementia within the family and draws attention to the importance of providing support for carers, as well as developing effective treatments to treat and prevent dementia. My justgiving page will continue to be dedicated to Alzheimer's Research UK until Saturday 5th December, at https://www.justgiving.com/Vivien-Hunot.Then for the remaining six months of my challenge, the focus of my fund-raising activities will shift from older people to children. More on that next week!
Now back to Natasha, Pierre and yet another war looming with Napoleon...........
I'm quite chuffed to be able to tell you that to date I've completed a total of 27 tasks, with two more tasks lined up this week (bread/crab apple jelly making tomorrow followed by skating at Somerset House on Saturday - can't wait!) And if I keep wading my way through War and Peace over the next 5 days (right now I'm on page 698 of 1316 so I have some midnight oil to burn), that means I will have ticked 30 tasks off my list by 1st December. So it looks like I'm on schedule - juuusst.....
I do so appreciate everyone's support over the last six months - you've been fantastic companions on tasks, you've cheered me on at the sidelines and you've given me endless kind words of encouragement together with small doses of tough love where required. And to date I've received donations amounting to £1697 for Alzheimer's Research UK, which is amazing!!
In this last week of fund-raising for Alzheimer's Research UK, I'd like to introduce my lovely neighbour Di to you. Di knows first-hand what it's like to care with someone with dementia. When her husband John, a much loved local GP, developed dementia, she looked after him devotedly for several years. This is how she described her experiences to me.
'I was carer to my husband for three years whilst he suffered with Alzheimer's disease. Being alert and on hand for 24/7 was a tiring and very lonely experience as he confused night with daytime - he was active at night and wanted to sleep most of the day.
It would have been so helpful if there had been some sort of support system to help the carer (me!) to have even one hour off duty, either to do the shopping, to sleep, or just to sit in the garden, knowing that someone would have been able to talk to and watch over him. The person with Alzheimer's is often in their own, perhaps unreal world, whereas the carer carries all the worries and responsibilities'.
During those years, I saw what an absolute star Di was in caring for John and she never complained about her situation. But I think her words convey very clearly the unremitting and exhausting impact of dementia within the family and draws attention to the importance of providing support for carers, as well as developing effective treatments to treat and prevent dementia. My justgiving page will continue to be dedicated to Alzheimer's Research UK until Saturday 5th December, at https://www.justgiving.com/Vivien-Hunot.Then for the remaining six months of my challenge, the focus of my fund-raising activities will shift from older people to children. More on that next week!
Now back to Natasha, Pierre and yet another war looming with Napoleon...........
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