Ellen Newby

OUR STORY 🤍

I’m walking 50 miles for Dementia UK for my grandad — my best friend.

Before we made the heartbreaking decision to place him in a care home, I cared for him every single day. Dementia slowly changed the way he experienced the world, but it never changed who he was to me. The love, the bond, the familiarity — those things never disappeared.

Making the decision to move him into a home was one of the hardest choices we’ve ever faced. But at 98 years old, he’s still going strong, still teaching us lessons in resilience, patience and love. It’s an honour to still be able to care for him in a different way now.

As a single mum, I didn’t have much choice but to bring my girls along with me on this journey. They spent a lot of time with me and their great grandad, and what could have been difficult has turned into one of the most rewarding experiences of their lives. They’ve learned what dementia really is — not just the condition, but the human side of it. They’ve learned how to care for someone, how to show compassion, how to sit with the elderly, to listen, to comfort, and to understand that ageing and dementia affects everyone differently.

Now, when we visit the care home, they don’t just visit their great grandad — they help stimulate other residents, offer kindness, smiles, conversation and warmth. I couldn’t be prouder of the empathy and understanding they’ve developed at such a young age.

This walk is for awareness.

It’s for carers.

It’s for families making impossible decisions.

And most of all, it’s for you, Gramps — for everything you are, everything you’ve given us, and everything you continue to teach us.

This is for you. 💙