A MOTHER who has run more than 300km for charity marked the end of her challenge with a final run from Greenmount dementia cafe D-CaFF.

Elianne Hawley has been raising money for The Beeches care home in Tottington where her mum Diane Byrne is staying.

Mrs Byrne has had frontotemporal dementia, a rare form of the condition that affects the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain, for two years and went into the home earlier this year.

Mrs Hawley, aged 37, heard about the Alzheimer’s Research UK challenge – running down dementia – and thought it would be a “good way of finding a positive amongst all the heartbreak.”

She was contacted by Joani Beale from the D-CaFF – where she takes her mum – after the story appeared in the Bury Times.

Mrs Hawley felt a fitting way to end the challenge would be to run from D-CaFF to the care home in Bradshaw Road, Tottington.

Mrs Hawley, from Holcombe Brook, said: “The support from D-CaFF and Joani in particular has been truly amazing and we now take my mum there every month, it’s such a brilliant place.The care and positivity that radiates out of that place is just wonderful and they have been so supportive of my running.

“I thought that the run from there to The Beeches would be a fitting way to finish my challenge.”

Mrs Hawley originally planned to run 100k over the summer and raise £100 but the amazing support she has received has led to her running 300k and raising over £3,650. She said: “Since my mum was diagnosed, I’ve found so many people who have been touched by dementia too. I want to see us find something that can beat the condition once and for all.

“The challenge has been an amazing experience and the support I have received has been fantastic. My mum receives excellent care at The Beeches and D-CaFF is a vital organisation. My hope by doing this challenge is to raise awareness and maybe encourage others to do the challenge next year.”

To sponsor Mrs Hawley visit www.running-down-dementia.everydayhero.com/uk/eliane