IT started almost on a whim two years ago but a family-run charity ride has already raised more than $12,000 to support people affected by dementia.
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Now Kylie Southgate and her husband have moved to town and want to see Bendigonians jump on board the campaign.
Ms Southgate is calling on people to support the Bendigo Memory Walk and Jog on Sunday, October 11. Money raised will go to support people who suffer from dementia and their families.
It is a topic with which Ms Southgate is intimately acquainted.
On November 17, 2012, her mother Anne Jones passed away after a six-year battle with a particularly aggressive form of dementia – Lewy Body Disease. She was 76 years old.
“She gradually lost her ability to do things, to read, to write,” Ms Southgate said. “She became disorientated, she couldn’t find the fridge or even the kitchen.
“Towards the end she lost the ability to communicate and also started hallucinating... which was very upsetting.”
But Ms Southgate said it wasn’t just upsetting for the family, but confusing and draining. Dementia took over their lives too.
“For six years Dad became her full-time carer, he looked after everything – showers, getting dressed, toilet...” she said.
“I would go around at least once a week to cook meals for them, just to give him a break, and my sister Kirsty did the same thing.
“Everything revolved around making sure Mum was OK, and Dad too – supporting someone 24/7 is exhausting, literally thinking for them all the time and having do everything is both emotionally and physically draining.”
With the rest of their family in England and Wales there were few people the family could lean on. Until they found Alzheimer's Australia.
“We hadn’t been exposed to dementia before and we had no idea what to expect, we didn’t understand the changes that were happening,” she said.
“So being able to talk to someone who could explain what was happening and to let us know what we could expect was very supportive.”
That support extended to help with home care for Ms Jones toward the end of her life.
So when the first anniversary of her death approached the family decided they wanted to do something positive, which would give back and help others go through what they had.
“We decided to hold a family bike ride which we held on the 'Warby Trail'… and 70 people turned up,” she said.
Rain put a dampener on last year’s event but the family hope to push their total of money raised past $20,000 when they hold the third ‘Yarra Valley – A Ride to Remember’ this November 17.
In the meantime, Ms Southgate will attend the Bendigo Memory Walk and Jog in her new hometown.