GADS to hold 24-hour relay today for Alzheimer's awareness month

Hundreds of people will take part in a 24-hour event organised by Gibraltar Alzheimer's and Dementia Society (GADS) at Lathbury Stadium today, in a bid to raise awareness and give a heartfelt tribute to the late Daphne Alcantara, the charity’s former chairperson.  

The new GADS chairperson, Jeanette Ochello, said that the event promises to be a poignant and community-driven celebration of her legacy. 

"This is an idea that the late Daphne came up with," Ms Ochello said.  

The event, which starts at 11 am on Saturday, will feature a special opening lap led by residents from the different Elderly Residential Services units.

“They have also practiced a dance with their pom poms and they are going to be doing the first lap to the song ‘Young at Heart’,” she said.  

The GADS members on the ‘Amazing Memory Walk’ team alongside Amanda Parson from ERS have worked together to bring this to fruition.  

Ms Ochello, who took on the GADS chairperson role in July, is thrilled by the community's response, with around 30 teams signing up, some of which comprise of 20 to 30 members.  

"I am expecting hundreds of people if it's just with the teams, and I do know that I've had a lot of inquiries for people who are going to be coming and going as well," she said. 

Peter Bering and Luigi Rodriguez from Bassadone will be doing laps of the track for the full 24 hours, running some and walking some.  

Mr Bering completed 159km over 24 hours at a similar event for Cancer Research last year.  

“I will be there in memory of Daphne and with an auntie having dementia,” he told the Chronicle.  

“I will do all 24 hours again and this time my colleague Luigi Rodriguez will also do 24 hours.  

“We are a big Bassadone Group participating during the event like last year. It would be a dream to beat last year, I am not in the same shape as last year, but as you know it is all in the mind…,” he added.  

The event promises to be a vibrant celebration, with performances by Karess Zumba and the Yalta’s Dance group, as well as a range of activities for children, including face painting and treasure hunts.  

An awareness tent will provide information and leaflets from GADS, and t-shirts for GADS will be sold for £5.

Ms Ochello is particularly excited about the ‘memory lap’ a special tribute to Ms Alcantara that will take place around 10 to 10:30pm, following Ms Ochello’s speech. 

Making the event that little more personal for Ms Ochello is the fact that her own mother who has Alzheimer's, is set to participate in the opening lap. 

The cafeteria will be open throughout the event and the charity Mind Space will be supplying food. 

The Tower of Homage in the Moorish Castle will also be lit up purple over the whole weekend to mark the event and the awareness month.  

Alongside the 24-hour event, GADS has been busy with a range of awareness initiatives throughout September, Alzheimer's Awareness Month.  

Last Saturday an awareness stall was set up in the Piazza, where the public were encouraged to ‘See the person living with dementia’.  

Other events included regular support group sessions, a talk by dementia coordinator Karen Truman, and a barbecue will be held on September 30 to mark the end of the month. 

Ms Ochello balances her GADS role with a full-time job as a conveyancing assistant and legal secretary to partners in the law firm Isolas and finds being is passionate about her new position is making things easier. 

She came into the role after becoming close with the charity after an event she and her husband took part in with GADS, that event raised £6,000. 

“Afterwards I had conversations with her [Ms Alcantara] about wanting to help in any way I could in a more sort of permanent basis,” she said.  

“That's because my Mum started off with the disease five years ago, and the first three and a half to four years were very, very hard.” 

“We tried to keep her at home, and it was actually one of Daphne's talks that she gave here in the office that actually opened my eyes. Because for me, I was running on adrenaline. I was immensely, emotionally, physically and mentally drained.” 

When Ms Alcantara passed away earlier this year Ms Ochello was approached by family members and others asking her whether she was willing to do it.  

“I thought, this is my time. It would be an honour for me anyway. I did want to join forces and on permanent basis,” she said.  

“I have a lot of things that I want to put forward and a lot of things that I want to do, but I'm waiting for the Awareness Month to finish before I can start working on the bigger projects that I have in mind.”

She cannot divulge the exciting plans in the works, but was able to say that there is soon be a donation of a bus from GADS to the Elderly Residential Services (ERS), made possible by a £68,000 bequest from the late Edith Dawson.  

"It was another blessing," she said. 

Ms Ochello plans to meet with various Government officials over the coming months and she delves deeper into her role about working together going forward.  

She also encourages individuals and businesses to become aware of dementia and how individually or as a society Gibraltar can become more dementia friendly.  

She believes that awareness of the condition will make people more tolerant and alert to people who might need patience or help when in public.  

For more information visit: https://gads.gi