Kenilworth duck race winner donates money to marathon fund for dementia charity

Evie Atkinson, a member of running club Kenilworth Runners, is aiming to raise money for Dementia Revolution by completing the London Marathon on Sunday April 28.

She needs to raise at least £2,000 for the charity before she can take part in the marathon.

In between her training, she headed to the Kenilworth Lions' Duck Race on Boxing Day and bought a ticket. To her surprise, her duck came third and she received £50 in cash.

Her mother Sally said: "It was her lucky day. Evie made good use of the winnings and has added it to her fundraising page."

Dementia has had a significant impact on Evie's family.

Her grandmother on her father's side, Sylvia Atkinson, suffered from the condition for eight years before she passed away.

And after Sylvia's death, Evie's grandfather and Sally's father, Keith Tofield, was showing the early signs of dementia. He died several months later.

On her fundraising page, Evie said: "My granny Jo soon took on the role of full time carer for my grandad, giving up her own life to care for him. Anyone who knows someone who’s suffered from dementia knows this isn’t the easiest of tasks to deal with day in day out.

"I knew that something needed to be done to raise money into researching a cure for this dreaded disease."

Evie's brother Ben, a former pupil at Kenilworth School, is currently working to try and find a cure for dementia through his role as a scientist at the Alzheimer’s Research UK Institute of Drug Discovery.

Evie added: "Unfortunately for me, science was never my thing. But luckily now, running is. Which is why I couldn’t be prouder to take on the 26.2 mile challenge in memory of these two absolute diamonds that were my grandparents."

Anyone wishing to donate to help Evie can do so here