A local Penarth business owner has raised money for charity in honour of his late father, by completing a 26-mile walk with his family. 

Matt Holland, who co-owns Willmore’s 1938 with his fiancé Charlotte, stepped up to the challenge and completed the vast walk in a bid to raise money for Alzheimer’s Society, a charity dedicated to facing dementia head on. 

Speaking about his late father, George, Matt said: “My father was a marathon runner all of his life until he couldn’t do it anymore. He suffered with his mental health, he was bipolar which was tough on him and the family but he managed to hold down jobs and did really well. My mum supported him through that. So mental health has been a massive thing in our family.”

“He was diagnosed with vascular dementia probably about 10 years ago. That’s a sort of slow process. Then we found out that after he passed away that he had Alzheimers as well.”

“His mental health, especially over lockdown, drastically deteriorated.” 

“He had a small little problem, a small little infection, went into hospital and then went down hill and passed away very quickly. We lost him within a week, it was really shocking. With dementia, it’s a dilapidated thing for him and for the family as well; to slowly lose somebody.”

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Quoting from their website, Alzheimer’s Society explained that ‘The word ‘dementia’ describes a set of symptoms that may include memory loss and difficulties with thinking, problem-solving or language.’ 

Matt added: “At the wake, which was just a family wake because of the numbers and restrictions in lockdown, my sister batted the idea about doing a marathon walk for him in his memory. We all signed up for it basically the next day. So 18 of us took part in the event which was initially in Dartmoor but had to be changed to Stonehenge because of restrictions and people couldn’t make the date. It’s a 26 mile walk which we all took part in.”

“We all finished the event and then we had a massive meal and some food and drinks afterwards. Some of us were in a real bad way, feet and everything else. It was a continuous walk with little breaks. It was an amazing organised event for dementia and Alzheimer’s.”

“Charlotte and I are definitely going to do it again next year.”

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“It was about my Dad being a marathon runner, it was supporting the charity that helps people with dementia. Both young and old can be diagnosed with dementia, it can be diagnosed at a very early age as well.”

“It was very emotional finishing. We found it really, really tough but the actual relief and the emotions and almost like you have got a real connection with your past. It was almost like a sense of achievement that he would have had, doing the marathons himself because he was a good marathon runner. He was age 41 when he did his first marathon. He did it in 3 hours, 10 minutes and 10 seconds. For a middle aged man, it was a massive achievement. And that was a big part of his life, so we wanted to replicate that in some way and this was a great opportunity in such a positive way of doing things.”

So far, Matt and his family have raised over £4000 of their target of £5000. To find out more about their fundraising and to donate, visit: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/MattyHolland?utm_source=whatsapp&utm_medium=fundraising&utm_content=MattyHolland&utm_campaign=pfp-whatsapp&utm_term=eacf91a697b84ca789e5f4fbbdd31ba6