Hertfordshire resident to join dozens stepping up for Alzheimer’s
Her mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s at the end of 2020 - she's now dedicated to the cause and spreading awareness
TV presenter and Alzheimer’s Society Ambassador Ruth Langsford is encouraging people across London to take part in one of the charity’s 12 Memory Walks this autumn, including the flagship event at Potters Fields Park on 5 October 2025.
Ms Langsford, who has supported the charity for 15 years, said: “By coming together and taking part in a Memory Walk, we can pave the way to dementia no longer devastating lives by helping to fund Alzheimer’s Society’s vital support services today and groundbreaking research for the future.
“It is so difficult to watch someone you love fade away little by little, but I’ve also seen the incredible difference support and care can make, not just to the person with dementia but their families.”
Her involvement is personal, as she explained: “I’ll be walking for my mum Joan who is living with Alzheimer’s disease and in memory of my dad Dennis. You feel part of something that’s helping to make a difference.”
There are currently around one million people living with dementia in the UK, including more than 87,000 in London.
Joining Ms Langsford at the London Memory Walk will be singer-songwriter Alexis Strum, from Hertfordshire, who has also campaigned for Alzheimer’s Society through fundraising and music.
Ms Strum’s mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s at the end of 2020 and now lives in a care home.
Speaking to Greatest Hits Radio, she said: “She doesn’t know who I am. She doesn’t recognise anybody. She’s non-verbal. She is bed bound in a care home. And I mean, it’s if I can’t really judge her quality of life, it’s not for me to say, but I do think about her lying in bed all day and wondering what she’s thinking about, if she still has thoughts like I do. And that’s where we find ourselves today.”
Ms Strum described how fundraising and awareness work help her cope: “When you have a loved one who’s diagnosed with dementia, you feel completely like you’re the only person to ever have gone through this experience. It’s very isolating. There’s not like a list of feelings that you’re going to have. There’s no sense of how long this is going to go on for, what the stages are. And I found it really disorienting for me. I can only imagine what my mum must have gone through. But the more you talk to other people that have been through it, you realise there is some commonality in the humour, it’s not all doom and gloom.”
She recalled the impact of her first Alzheimer’s Society walk: “We did the walk and cried. We turned up, we saw these people and cried. Because it’s like when you go to watch the marathon, you see these people with a common goal and they’re good people and they just want to do something to raise awareness. And it was lovely and I felt so overwhelmed.”
Alzheimer’s Society says funds raised from Memory Walks will help provide essential support and fund research.
Ms Strum highlighted the importance of that work: “A lot of it will go into research and just sort of building the community. Obviously, they have a website and lots of staff who are thoroughly engaged in creating these opportunities to raise money, they’re fantastic. Getting people talking and making sure you’re not isolated.”
This autumn, Alzheimer’s Society Memory Walks will take place across the UK.
There is more information at memorywalk.org.uk