Real stories

GLOW sponsored night walks are back with purpose in March

I did my first Memory Walk in 2013 – I’ve got quite a few Memory Walk T-shirts and quite a few medals! 

I found out that some of my family had dementia, and then discovered that two of my friends’ parents had actually died from it. My father-in-law especially was the reason I did my last Memory Walk. 

When I saw GLOW advertised, I thought, ‘Walking in the dark – I quite fancy trying that for a change!’

Night-time walk 

GLOW is a sponsored walk in the early evening, just as it’s getting dark.

It has a great fun atmosphere – we wore glowsticks because it was dark. 

There were GLOW walks in nine cities in 2020, and I did the Belfast one, which began at Titanic Belfast. 

There was a good atmosphere at the walk. When I turned up there were so many people there. I didn’t think so many people would walk at night! And there were loads of spectators. We were getting lots of support. 

I later discovered there was somebody there who I knew, who did it as well, but I didn’t know until afterwards – she saw me dancing about the stage while we were doing the warm-up! 

I raised £130, and there was a Memory Tree where you can leave a message about the person you’re walking for. It was full of messages by the end of the night. 

I would do it again and I’d definitely recommend it. It’s not just about going for a walk – you’re doing it for a purpose.