A STUDENT from Barrow who took time off from university to care for her grandmother after she was diagnosed with dementia is raising money to fight the illness.

Tomorrow the inaugural Barrow Memory Walk will take place in Barrow Park. Organised by 22-year-old Emma Borwick, the five-kilometre event will raise money for the Alzheimer's Society.

A maths student studying at the University of Leeds, Miss Borwick, of Newbarns Road, hopes she can raise awareness of the disease and show other families living with dementia they are not alone.

She said: "There is so much the Alzheimer's Society does locally. There are a lot of people that benefit from them. It's nice to know that they are there."

Miss Borwick's story is one that dozens of Furness families can relate to. She says the first warning signs were when her nana's memory started to slip.

She said: "When it kept getting worse and worse we had a few meetings [with their GP] and it was diagnosed as mixed dementia."

The news came as a double blow for Miss Borwick and her mum, Janice, as at the same time her grandpa was diagnosed with skin cancer.

During this period Miss Borwick's mum was the primary care giver, having to juggle this responsibility with working two jobs. Miss Borwick's decision to come home from uni came at a time when she wasn't enjoying her time away from home.

She sad: "I was fed up at the time with my degree. I'd gone through a bit of depression and decided to go home for a bit. There was a break in March and I saw that my mum was so worn down I wanted to to come back and help."

Since she came back home the health of her grandparents has greatly improved and Miss Borwick is to return to university in January. After experiencing what life was like after a family member was diagnosed with dementia she was dismayed at the lack of fundraising events in Barrow.

She researched the Memory Walk scheme run by the Alzheimer's Society but found the closest walks were more than two hours away. She set out to change that situation for herself and many others in the area.

"When I wanted to sign up for a walk they were in Carlisle or Manchester. There are a lot of people in Barrow living with the disease. Since my nana was diagnosed people have said 'I've dealt with it too.'"

Since August Miss Borwick has been organising Barrow's own event with the help of friends and members of the Alzheimer's society. She is happy about the level of support shown since she began publicising it.

She said: "I've had help from some great friends, Rachel Yarwood and Amanda Hetherington. They've really helped me to get the word out in the local area."

"I was also invited by Mr Rastelli at Ulverston Victoria High School, my old sixth form, to talk to the students in the weekly assembly about the event. It's great to have support like this as a former student."

The Memory Walk will take place in Barrow Park at 11am tomorrow. It will begin at the bandstand.

Anyone wanting to take part can attend on the day and make a donation. The course is accessible to all ages and is dog friendly.

To donate to Miss Borwick's Just Giving page click here , and to learn about the event on Saturday click here to visit the event's Facebook page.

Learn how you can help fight dementia:

Dementia awareness week is run every year by the Alzheimer's Society to highlight what thousands of families go through after diagnosis.

What is so often forgotten is that the family of people diagnosed with dementia are placed under great strain to adapt to the life-changing disease.

As well as raising money the society have embarked on a campaign to create "dementia friends". These are people who have learned about the illness and who can help change how people think and act when faced with the condition.

In 2017 more than £100,000 was raised for the society.

As well as the awareness week fundraising Memory Walks have contributed hugely towards fighting the disease.

More than £9m is raised annually by community organised Memory Walks bringing together more than 100,000 people.

To learn more about Memory Walks or how you can get involved visit www.memorywalk.org.uk.

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