Beaconsfield fundraiser takes on double marathon in memory of his mum

A fundraiser from Beaconsfield has taken on a double marathon for Alzheimer’s Research UK, in memory of his mum.

Rick Somerset-Williams, 44, sadly lost his mum Cherith Williams in 2013 when she was just 69, after she was diagnosed with the dementia in 2010.

Ever since Rick, who works as an operations director for a bank, has been fundraising for the UK’s leading dementia research charity and hosting a number of colleague dementia awareness sessions.

Having already completed five marathons, including the London Marathon for Alzheimer’s Research UK last year, Rick upped his fundraising efforts by taking on a double marathon on 10 June.

The event saw Rick battle through 54 miles of running through the Cotswolds hills to the finish line. Despite its difficulty, Rick said he is already looking for his next challenge which he hopes to complete before the end of the year.

The father-of-two said:

“I chose to fundraise for Alzheimer’s Research UK because my mum was diagnosed with dementia in 2010, just four months after finally becoming a grandma to our twins, Isabella and Charlie. It was quite an aggressive form of dementia she had and as a family we watched her health deteriorate rapidly over a short period of time.

“Mum’s ability to string sentences together or recognise loved ones was taken from her. My dad, Gordon, became her full-time carer overnight and had to do absolutely everything for her.

“We made the very difficult decision to put Mum into a specialist dementia care home in August 2014 after she spent a number of weeks in hospital following a bad fall. Just a few weeks later aged only 69, Mum passed away from a complication due to the condition.

“It was a fantastic event with over 900 people taking part, although only 300 of us decided to run the full distance non-stop. Running on your own for such long distances is hard and I went through some really tough periods, but knowing who I was running for pulled me through. Eventually after 11 hrs and 56 mins I crossed the finish line in 59th place out of 328 who completed the distance non-stop. Crossing the line hand in hand with my twins was a very emotional moment.

“There are simply no words to describe just how horrific this illness is but I hope the money I raise will give hope to future generations.”

So far Rick has smashed his target of £1,000 by raising over £1,700 for Alzheimer’s Research UK. To donate to Rick’s fundraising go to www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Rick-Somerset-Williams2

Kenneth Foreman, Sporting Events Manager at Alzheimer’s Research UK, said:

“There are 850,000 people with dementia in the UK and Alzheimer’s Research UK is on a mission to end the fear, harm and heartbreak caused by dementia.

“Dedicated supporters like Rick are helping to get us one step closer to finding more treatments to fight this terrible condition. We can’t thank Rick enough for his fundraising.”