A BELOVED grandmother has inspired a Darlington woman to take on a gruelling charity trek this weekend.

Darlington woman Gemma Stockdale will climb the Yorkshire Three Peaks in a bid to raise money for the Alzheimer’s Society.

The 34-year-old, who has been training for several months to prepare for the 26-mile charity challenge, says the cause is very close to her heart.

Housing worker Ms Stockdale was inspired to support the charity after watching her grandmother live with dementia.

She said she came up with the idea of taking on the trek in a “moment of madness”, adding: “I’d completed a boot-camp and was filled with adrenaline.

“Feeling capable and strong and a bit silly, I was thinking about what to do next and decided to do this.

“I signed up in October last year, bought myself a pair of decent hiking boots and away I went.

“I knew if I was going to do something like this, I wanted it to raise money for a good cause.”

Ms Stockdale’s grandmother Pam Shailes developed dementia as a complication of Parkinson’s Disease while her partner’s grandfather developed Alzheimer’s Disease following a stroke.

She said: “The cause is very close to my heart but this is not entirely altruistic either.

“There’s a chance with this kind of family history that we will see this happen again, perhaps to our parents and maybe to us in the future.

“I’m hoping that if I can raise some money, it will help to make that future more comfortable for people who are affected by this horrific condition.”

Mrs Shailes died at the age of 73 having suffered from dementia for several years.

Ms Stockdale, originally from Lincolnshire but now living in Darlington, said: “My mum bore the brunt of dealing with the dementia and it was hard for me, living so far away that I couldn’t do anything to help except listen and let her vent when she needed to.

“I visited Nan when I took trips home and it was awful to see how she deteriorated. In a strange way I was glad when she reached the point where she didn’t know me any more because initially she would get upset when I visited and she realised she hadn’t recognised me.”