Geordie star Vicky Pattinson shares moving reason behind mammoth new challenge

Geordie reality TV star Vicky Pattinson will join thousands of fundraisers on a gruelling trek for Alzheimer’s Socieety this summer.

The former I’m a Celebrity Winner will don her walking boots at the charity’s Trek26 Stonehenge event on 3 September alongside her new fiancé Ercan Ramadan, and walk 26 miles to raise funds.

In an emotional Instagram post last month, Newcastle-born Vicky revealed her beloved granddad, David Birdsey, passed away aged 92. He was diagnosed with dementia in 2010.

She wrote: "You were the best granda I could have ever asked for and I feel incredibly grateful to you for everything you taught me and all the beautiful memories you gave me.

"You taught me the importance of hard work, kindness, and above all else family values. I promise to honour your memory and live in a way that I know would make you proud- travelling lots, having adventures and putting my family first.

"In your memory, I will continue to support, raise money and awareness for the amazing Alzheimer’s Society in any way that I can – no one should have to watch their beautiful family members slowly fade away through that awful disease.”

The Stonehenge route will take in historic landscape dominated by the world-famous stone circle of Stonehenge, including water meadows, high ridges and quiet woodland, as well as Salisbury’s 13th century cathedral.

Former Geordie Shore star, Pattison, said: “The easy part is signing up to take part in Alzheimer’s Society’s Trek26, as it only takes a few minutes, but the hard part is to motivate myself to train for it! I just know, when I’m up there, trekking next to Stonehenge, taking in the beauty of it all and surrounded by hundreds of other very passionate people walking to stop dementia in its tracks, it will be so worth it.

“I’m proud to be trekking for Alzheimer’s Society’s in honour of my grandad. My family has seen first-hand how much dementia can take from someone you love. It’s been hard to see how the condition affected my once strong and active grandad, as well as our whole family.

“I hope everybody joins me to raise as much money as possible by trekking around the UK in support of people with dementia like my grandad.”

There are currently 900,000 people living with dementia in the UK, including an estimated 39,080 in the North East.

Money raised from Alzheimer’s Society’s Trek26 will go towards the charity’s vital services, including its Dementia Connect support line, which have been used over six million times since the start of the pandemic.