Young internet sensation backs Alzheimer’s Society

Charlie has made a moving video blog about his Grandad Joe, who passed away with dementia, to encourage people to donate to the charity.

The 22-year-old from Bath, who has 1.76 million YouTube subscribers and over 268 million overall views of his blog, has made the video for Project for Awesome (P4A). P4A is YouTube and Google’s annual fundraising initiative that encourages people to make video blogs in order to attract donations to their favourite causes.

The campaign finishes at the end of today and P4A will match the overall fundraising total raised across the whole campaign, which currently stands at over $310,000. The final figure will be split between the five video blogs with the most views.

Charlie’s P4A video has already had over 100,000 views and he has set up a JustGiving page for his followers to make donations to Alzheimer’s Society. He has promised to match donations on his page up to £5,000.

Speaking about his grandfather, Charlie said:

'He was a lovely person, and was definitely a friend to me when I was younger. Seeing him go through what he did was hard for me, so I can’t even begin to imagine what it must have been like for him.

'Regrettably for me, it was only after Joe passed away that I discovered Alzheimer’s Society and started learning about the great work they do to fund research looking for a cure for the disease, but also providing vital information about what the disease actually is and helping people who have the disease to have a better quality of life.'

Liz Monks, Director of Fundraising at Alzheimer’s Society said:

'We are delighted that Charlie has chosen to support Alzheimer’s Society through Project for Awesome. One in three people over 65 will develop with dementia. It is caused by diseases of the brain and can happen to anyone.

'As a charity, we rely on the generosity of individuals like Charlie to help us continue our vital work. Please watch his fantastic video and back him in his fundraising efforts so that Alzheimer's Society can continue leading the fight against dementia.'

To support Charlie in his bid to finish in the top five P4A videos and help raise money for Alzheimer’s Society, vote for the video on the Project for Awesome website and share the video on Twitter using #P4A.