A family from Catrine have taken on a 50 mile trek to raise money for a dementia charity in honour of their Gran who suffers from the disease.

Cody Paton, 26, her sister, Patrece, 27, and their cousin David, 33, have committed to walking and jogging 50 miles across East Ayrshire to raise vital funds for Dementia UK.

It is a cause close to the family’s heart as their 77-year-old gran receives round-the-clock care for the disease, which affects around 90,000 people in Scotland.

Cumnock Chronicle: Cody and cousin David dressed in his maid outfit.Cody and cousin David dressed in his maid outfit.

So far they have raised an incredible £550, smashing their initial target of £500.

Cody, who now lives in Muirkirk, said: “My gran’s got dementia so we’re doing it for her.

“It’s been a couple of years since she got diagnosed but in the past year she’s really went downhill.

“It’s hard sometimes seeing how much she’s changing. My mum’s her carer so it’s hard on her too.

“I haven’t seen her a lot because of lockdown and she was in and out the hospital for a wee while there.

“It’s only my mum allowed to see her. She’s got carers going four times a day as well, they’ve really upped her care because of the hospital stint, but they’re so good with her.

“I told her we’re doing the walk and last week I went to see her with my t-shirt on. We’ve done 14 and a half miles so far. We’ve done the River Ayr walk from Muirkirk to Catrine in one day and now we’re going to Catrine from Belford.

“We’ll do it every Friday to reach our miles.”

Cody arranged the fundraiser via Facebook and has received support from many others across the country who are taking on a similar feat.

However due to coronavirus, some have not been able to see the challenge through, and so Cody and the family have kindly offered to take on their miles to help them reach their goal.

Cumnock Chronicle: Cody and David about to set off.Cody and David about to set off.

She said: “Some people haven’t been able to do it because of COVID so we’ve volunteered to do extra miles.

“We’re doing them because

they can’t. My mum’s also making up hampers and selling raffle tickets and the

money raised will contribute to it, too.

“We’ve had a lot of support from people in the community who have donated things to us.”

The trio are also putting a twist on the challenge – by dressing up in fancy dress for each leg of their journey to raise their spirits and keep them entertained on their strolls through the local area.

Cody added: “My cousin David is changing his outfit every week.

“He dressed in a maids outfit there and he’ll be going as Cleopatra this Friday.”

If you would like to donate to the family’s fundraiser, visit https://bit.ly/3pKnCKb