CHARITABLE individuals and groups put on their walking boots to raise money for Alzheimer’s Support on Saturday by taking part in their A Walk to Remember.

The Trowbridge-based charity managed to raise £30,000 during its inaugural event last year and hope to meet that total this year.

Babs Harris, CEO of Alzheimer’s Support took part in the second part of the walk and was proud that 220 walkers had registered to take part.

She added: “The whole day went extremely well despite a bit of rain.

“I am astonished and amazed by the support we get in the community and it was particularly lovely on the day to see so many of our service users taking part and doing the walk. I think it puts in mind what we do and who the services are for and my big praise goes to Kim Self who organised the whole thing.

“During the walk, especially along the canal, we got to speak to so many people. Because we were able to have sponsorship t-shirts, people were able to come and talk to us and if they had any questions, then we were able to answer them. The support we have from the mayor as well is brilliant because we both support Trowbridge in becoming a dementia friendly community.

“In the past, we didn’t really have a flagship event other than our memory tree event. This year, we have picked the Walk to Remember apart so it ran across one whole day and we will be holding our Family Fun Day on July 9 in the park. There will be a sci-fi day at the Civic Centre on the same day so we are hoping it will give us a bit more of a footfall and we will have the mayor opening the event along with Darth Vader.”

The walk, which started at the Tithe Barn, spanned 11 miles from Bradford on Avon to Devizes and included shorter routes for people along the way.

One of the highlights on the day was an appearance from apetito’s intrepid team who took part in the walk dressed as the Smurfs after managing to raise £1,000.

To the surprise of fellow walkers, the team took a dip in the canal at the Barge Inn to celebrate their fundraising success.

Lee Sheppard, director of Public Policy & External Affairs at apetito added: “We are committed to making a real difference, and are delighted that we managed to raise over £1,000. This was in no small part supported by the generous contributions of the other walkers who agreed to sponsor an impromptu canal jump by three of our walkers who were dressed as Smurfs.”

A total amount is expected to be announced in the coming weeks.