Why I am fundraising for Parkinson's UK
Running for Dad and Andy ❤️
In 2013, I started running because I wanted to run the Bath Half Marathon — my dad’s favourite race — in his memory.
Dad died in 2012 after living with Parkinson’s, and running that race became a way of doing something positive in his memory. It was never something I imagined would become such a big part of my life.
Fast forward to 2026, and I’m going back to run the Bath Half again — but this time for both my dad and my brother Andy, who sadly died recently after also living with Parkinson’s.
Two people I loved enormously. Two very different journeys with the same cruel disease.
My mum, Sheila, lived through the heartbreak of losing her husband to Parkinson’s, and then watched her son Andy go through the same cruel disease. Just two weeks after Andy died, Mum passed away too. She had lost both her husband and her son to Parkinson’s, and the pain of seeing them both suffer is something no family should have to endure.
Both Dad and Andy made the incredibly generous decision to donate their brains to Parkinson’s research after their deaths. I’m hugely proud of that. Even when Parkinson’s had taken so much from them, they were still helping to try to make things better for the people who come after them.
So, I’m putting myself through 13.1 miles once again — although I’m fairly sure 2013 Angie had no idea where running would eventually take her!
This one is for Dad.
This one is for Andy.
This one is for Mum.
And it’s for everyone living with Parkinson’s, and for the researchers working towards a future where families don’t have to watch someone they love slowly lose so much to this disease.
If you can spare anything to support my fundraising, I’d be incredibly grateful. Every donation will help Parkinson’s research and, hopefully, one day mean that another family’s story is a very different one.
❤️ For Dad. For Andy. For Mum. For Parkinson’s research.
