GLOW Walk for dementia coming to Southend
Walkers will be raising money for the Alzheimer's Society
Next weekend, hundreds of people decked in bright colours and glow sticks will take to Southend seafront to raise money and awareness for dementia support.
Up to 300 people are expected to participate in the Alzheimer's Society's GLOW Walk on the evening of Saturday 19th March to raise money for life-changing dementia support.
It's part of the charity's 'Memory Walk' campaign, for which events take place across the country.
Walkers will follow a 6KM route which begins and ends in Southchurch Park, with a walk along the seafront, towards Adventure Island in the middle.
Joshua Lashbrook, who's organising the event, said: "For GLOW this year, overall, we're aiming to raise ÂŁ480,000 from roughly 5000 people walking across nine events this year."
Whilst the walk takes place in the dark, Joshua says hose taking part will still be very visible: "We want everyone to be as bright, colourful and shiny as possible at the event, because a lot of people with dementia feel they're in the darkness, and we want to bring the light.
"It's a great event for people to connect at too - a lot of people think they're alone with dementia, but this is a chance to see that there's actually more people affected than they might realise."
The money raised will go towards continuing the charity's work: "The fundraiser will go towards providing vital support.
"One of the services we have is our Dementia Connects support line, which is always there, 24/7, for people to reach out to if they have any issues related to dementia. "For a lot of people when they get that diagnosis, they just need someone on the phone to talk to - often people don't know what the next steps are, or how to do it, so fundraising will go towards the support line.
"Since March 2020, when the pandemic happened, we've had over 6 million people contact us for our services, so it's definitely vital."
For more information on the event, click here.