TWO Romsey beauty therapists raised more than £1,000 for a dementia charity by walking 80 miles.
Suzanne Michell and Tanis Anderson raised the funds for the Romsey Dementia Action Group (Romdag) by walking the Isle of Wight coastal path in six days at the start of October.
They both work at the Beauty Studio, inside Bradbeers, and raised £1,197.93 after setting an initial target of £500.
Suzanne and Tanis presented the cheque to Romdag organiser Janet Pratley on Wednesday, November 8.
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Suzanne said: “Tanis lost her lovely mum to dementia, so it was quite close to our hearts. We did the same last year so we think it will become an annual thing. It was quite challenging, we had lots of wet toes and blisters. Our toes are still a bit sore. We have quite a few customers coming in with dementia and we do notice the decline. I've had the business 32 years.”
Tanis said: “We're very pleased we were able to raise so much money.”
Janet added that the money will help the charity increase the number of activities it provides. She said: “We were so grateful at Romdag. The money will be put to very good use. We've got lots of new activities planned for 2024. Instead of doing activities once a month, we will be doing them every week. The money will be used to sponsor some kind of activity.
“It's just amazing to get such a large donation. We had no idea that they were going to do it and give all the money to us. We understand why they wanted to give the money to a dementia organisation, we're just so thrilled that something local is going to benefit. There are a lot of people in and around the Romsey area who unfortunately are coming to this awful disease. We're trying to do our best to help them, but particularly their carers and families. It's perceived that dementia is an old person's problem, but it's not. It can be diagnosed as early as mid to late 30s. It can happen to anyone at any time.”
For more about Romdag, visit romdag.co.uk.
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