This October, ByteSnap Design’s Production Manager, Ritchie Perry, will be completing the “Walk 62 Miles” challenge for Dementia UK.
The walk isn’t Ritchie’s first involvement, fundraising for Dementia and Alzheimer’s charities.
Back in May, Ritchie put together a music evening raising close to £2,000 for Alzheimer’s Society. So, when the Dementia UK challenge came up, it felt like a natural continuation.
The two charities work in similar areas, and for Ritchie, both are close to his heart.
“I lost my dad last year to dementia,” he told us when we sat down with him to talk about the challenge. “So, I really wanted to do something to help contribute towards finding a cure one day.”
In the UK, someone develops dementia every three minutes. And it’s a condition that rarely stays contained to the person diagnosed, because it affects whole families, reshapes relationships, and places enormous weight on whoever is doing the caring.
What The Challenge Actually Involves
The formal target is 62 miles across the month of October. But Ritchie’s not stopping there – he’s already thinking about pushing further to 70+ miles.
During the week, Ritchie does a couple of kilometres around the office at lunchtime and squeezes in evening walks when the weather cooperates. Weekends are for the longer efforts: 5, 10, sometimes 15 kilometres. And he’s logging his journey on Strava.
The weekend routes tend to follow canal paths near where he lives, sometimes solitary, sometimes catching up with old friends. And always with a big breakfast waiting at the end.
The Social Side
One of the better surprises of the challenge has been what the walks are actually good for. When a friend returned home after a stint in Texas, Ritchie immediately drafted him in for a six-mile walk on a Saturday morning. Another friend has offered to join him on a railway line walk from Swindon to Compton.
The walks have become an occasion for catching up properly with people – the kind of conversations that are easier outdoors and, on the move, than they are over a pint or a phone call. More of that is on the cards as the month goes on.
Hurdles Faced with Dementia Care
Ritchie told us about the current lack of support with Dementia care, due to funding issues:
"My mum had to really ask a number of times to get help. You've got to persevere in asking, because it is very difficult when you're looking after somebody with advanced dementia. It's a full-time job."
He advises you have to just keep asking. The resource is limited, which makes it harder to access than it ought to be.
Ritchie’s also clear that one of his reasons for fundraising is research as much as immediate support. Better funding, over time, changes both.
Dementia UK’s free Helpline (0800 888 6678) offers families direct access to specialist Admiral Nurses – qualified nurses who provide practical guidance and emotional support, at no cost. It’s there to use.
How Donations Make a Difference
Ritchie is aiming to raise £500 for Dementia UK. He’s well on his way, and every contribution – however small – has a direct impact:
- £10 covers the call costs for two families reaching Dementia UK's free Helpline
- £33 funds an hour of one-to-one support from a specialist Admiral Nurse for a family in the community
- £50 pays for two carers to receive an hour each of expert guidance on the charity's free national Helpline
To find out more about Dementia UK and the work they do supporting families affected by dementia, visit dementiauk.org.
Founded in 2008, ByteSnap Design is an award-winning embedded systems design consultancy, offering a comprehensive range of services across the electronic product development lifecycle.
A highly skilled team of over 40 hardware and software engineers, our expertise spans several sectors, including IoT, automotive, industrial, medical, and consumer electronics.
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