AS A tribute to the beloved husband she lost to dementia, Caroline Jones took part in the Oxford Memory Walk.

The 68-year-old was one of about 400 walkers who filled the University Parks yesterday for the event, organised by the Alzheimer’s Society.

Starting the participants on their 2km and 10km routes was Jamie Anderson, whose father Gerry created cult TV series Thunderbirds and died having suffered with dementia in 2012.

Mrs Jones, from Horspath Road, Oxford, said she surprised herself by walking the longer route with her daughter and son-in-law, despite having arthritis. She said: “It is a long time since I have walked that far, but it was brilliant and I’ll be there again next year.

“Stan and I had a lovely life together for many, many years and we were quite shocked when he was diagnosed.

“But we were lucky we had each other and our family to do something about our situation.”

Mrs Jones was also one of many walkers who shared a memory of their loved ones by attaching a label bearing a message to the Memory Tree.

The walks are the society’s flagship fundraising event, taking place around the UK throughout the autumn.

Participants are invited to celebrate someone they have lost and raise money to fight dementia. The charity supports sufferers and their carers while funding research into a cure, and yesterday’s walk is expected to raise about £32,000.

Mr Anderson said: “I was delighted to be able to support the society by starting their Oxford Memory Walk.

“I first became involved with the charity in 2012 when my dad revealed he was living with dementia.”

The charity’s community fundraiser for Oxford, Fiona Rackham, said: “The Alzheimer’s Society is so grateful to the hundreds of participants who turned up with their families to fight dementia.”

  • Do you want alerts delivered straight to your phone via our WhatsApp service? Text NEWS or SPORT or NEWS AND SPORT, depending on which services you want, and your full name to 07767 417704. Save our number into your phone’s contacts as Oxford Mail WhatsApp and ensure you have WhatsApp installed.