Alzheimer’s Society presented with £900 cheque by Maurice Helm and family members

Maurice Helm and his family present the cheque for £900 to the Alzheimer's Society.

Maurice Helm and members of his family presented Marcus Prichard from the Alzheimer’s Society with a cheque for £900 on Friday (1 September).

Last month, Maurice, a member of Littleborough Bowling Club, organised a community event for the charity with bowling competitions and a variety of stalls, including cake and food stalls, jewellery stalls, raffles and football cards.

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The event was organised by the club in honour of Maurice’s wife, sister and mother, who all suffer from the disease. Given the success this year, he thinks a similar event will take place next year.

He said: “We managed to raise £900 which is more than we thought. Alzheimer’s is a horrible illness.”

Maurice will also be taking on the Memory Walk in Heaton Park later this month, joined by his daughters, Sarah Southgate and Amanda Thirsk, and grandchildren, Sophie and Lewis Thirsk. Sophie, who completed the walk last year, raised £300 in aid of Alzheimer’s.

According to the Alzheimer’s Society, Alzheimer's disease affects more than 520,000 people in the UK. It is the most common cause of dementia, a set of symptoms that can include memory loss and difficulties with thinking, problem-solving or language.

Named after doctor Alois Alzheimer, who first described the disease, Alzheimer’s is a physical disease that progressively worsens over time and affects the brain with protein build-ups called ‘plaques’ and ‘tangles’. This leads to the loss of connections between nerve cells, and eventually to the death of nerve cells and loss of brain tissue.