Laila's 81st birthday fundraising challenge

Laila will traverse Ben Vrackie on Friday 4th June - her 81st birthday - to raise money for research in vascular dementia.

The challenge

Laila Kjellstrom will spend her 81st birthday climbing Ben Vrackie, Pitlochry, to raise money in aid of vascular dementia research. Ben Vrackie reaches 841 m (2,759 feet) high at its summit and offers stunning views of Pitlochry and surrounding glens.

Vascular dementia and its detrimental effect on wellbeing

Vascular dementia affects around 150,000 people in the UK. It can cause changes to mood, personality and behaviour. It can also cause disorientation and confusion. And it can cause difficulty walking and keeping balance. These problems can make previously simple daily activities increasingly difficult. There's currently no cure for vascular dementia and although treatment can help, vascular dementia can significantly shorten life expectancy.

It has a devastating impact not only on the person affected, but also on their friends and family.

Here at the University of Edinburgh we are working hard to better understand vascular dementia and in doing so improve the outcome for people diagnosed with this debilitating disease.

The importance of your donations for our research

Delivering novel methods for early recognition of causes and treatment methods requires a variety of resources. For example:

£5 could help to buy a bulk of envelopes for posting blood samples or research questionnaires
£10 could provide a set of blood tests for a research participant
£140 could provide a cylinder of gases necessary to perform brain scans
£250 could provide equipment for taking blood pressure
£400 could provide a short MRI scan for a research participant
£800 could provide more detailed MRI scan for a research participant
£1000 could fund a year's supply of drugs for two people taking part in a clinical trial
£5000 could help with the technical maintenance of our equipment