Why seven Leeds Rotary Clubs are joining forces to raise £40k for dementia research
“‘We have to find a cure”
Seven Rotary Clubs from across Leeds will come together this Autumn for a sponsored walk with an aim of raising £40,000 to support dementia-related research.
People from Leeds and beyond are invited to walk 2.5km, 5km, or 10km, at Temple Newsam on September 6 at 11am to raise money for Alzheimer’s Research UK.
The Rotary Leeds Walk was first created by Headingley Rotarian Drew Dodds in 2024.
He was inspired by his dearly beloved wife Isobel who has Alzheimer’s, the most common form of dementia in the UK.
Drew and Isobel both died late last year, just a month apart from each other.
Now, the Rotary clubs across Leeds want this year’s event to be larger than ever in their honour.
David Repper, Drew’s close friend and fellow Rotarian, said: “In his last few days in a hospice, I visited Drew on several occasions and he made it very clear to me that this should continue.
“I promised him that it would grow and be even more successful than it had been. Given who Drew was and the impact he had on me and many other people, I feel duty-bound to carry out his last wishes.”
The sponsored walk is supported by seven Leeds Rotary Clubs: Aireborough, Calverley, Elmete, Headingley, Rotary Leeds, Roundhay, and White Rose.
Over the past two years, the event has raised an astonishing £39,000 for Alzheimer’s Research UK, the UK’s leading dementia research charity.
This figure equates to nearly 1,000 hours of research into dementia.
Fiona Burrell, senior relationship fundraising officer for North East & Yorkshire at Alzheimer’s Research UK, said: “In Yorkshire alone, there are over 50,000 people who have dementia. It impacts so many people - the person living with it, their family, their friends. We have to find a cure.
“Without fundraisers like the Rotary Clubs we wouldn't be getting as close to finding a cure as what we are.”
Cally Northam, Drew and Isobel’s daughter, knows the “horrific and hideous” impact of dementia all too well as she watched her mum slowly deteriorate from Alzheimer’s.
“It had a massive effect on the whole family. The major impact for dad was that he was pretty much bound to the house as he was mum's carer 24 hours a day,” Cally said.
“It was devastating seeing mum slip away. She was still very much mum, but seeing her stuck in a chair, not being able to do anything, she went too early.”
Cally’s family's experience is far from unique because one in two people will be directly affected by dementia in their lifetime, either through developing the disease or caring for a loved one with it.
In fact, David highlighted that the Rotary Clubs across Leeds have seen several members diagnosed with dementia.
David said: “It's so sad to see the way people gradually deteriorate in front of your eyes to the point where they can't come any longer.
“That's the motivation really, we have to find a cure for this disease or at least better ways to mitigate it because once somebody's diagnosed, there's only one direction and that is slowly downwards.”
Cally described Headingley Rotary Club as a “lifeline” for her dad Drew while caring for Isobel.
He was a deeply passionate Rotarian and now the Leeds Rotary Clubs want to use the sponsored walk to continue his and Isobel’s legacy.
Cally said: “Raising those funds will be the tribute to mum and dad. They will be missed on the day, but the walk is bigger than mum and dad now.
“We want this to be an annual event, and we want to get bigger and bigger and be in everyone's calendar year on year, spreading the word and getting more and more people to come.”
Alzheimer’s Research UK has invested more than £237 million in dementia research, helping fuel drug discovery, improve diagnostics and further our understanding of the genetics of the condition.
Fiona highlighted that it is a “really exciting time” to see how research is progressing and affirmed that she believes a cure is “on the horizon”.
The sponsored walk is open to participants of all ages, and Cally described the scene as a “happy sea of orange” as participants adorn Alzheimer’s UK t-shirts to take on the challenge together.
The Rotary Clubs encourage anyone and everyone to sign up to participate in this year’s walk to start conversations around dementia and raise money for research.
David said: “Dementia is everywhere in the community and it's not often talked about sufficiently. But, there and people are really struggling either with it or having to care for somebody who has it.”
Fiona added: “At the moment we don’t have a cure for dementia, but that’s not to say it’s not in the near future. We are getting closer and it’s only through fundraising like the Rotary Clubs are doing here that we are going to find that cure.”
Sign-ups for this year’s Rotary Leeds Walk are now open on eventbrite.
To support the Rotary Club’s Alzheimer’s Research UK fundraiser, visit their JustGiving page.