Walker, 80, wants to raise £76k with 1,200-mile challenge

David Ensor (right) wants to raise as much money for Alzheimer's Research UK following the death of his wife, Susan

An intrepid 80-year-old is walking from John O'Groats to Land's End to raise money and awareness of Alzheimer's after his wife died from it.

David Ensor, who lives in Shipton-under-Wychwood, Oxfordshire, started his 1,200-mile (1,931km) trek on Tuesday and plans to finish it at the end of June.

His late wife Susan, a former primary school teacher, died three-and-a-half years ago after suffering with the illness.

Mr Ensor has previously raised about £20,000 for Alzheimer's Research UK but hopes to smash that by raising £76,000 over the coming months.

"I totally understand that this will not be easy, not least because at my age my physicality is not that of a 21-year-old and also because the terrain that I am going to walk over is challenging in itself," he said.

"Mix that with the British weather and we have a cocktail of improbability."

Alzheimer's Research UK said 982,000 people are estimated to be living with dementia across the country and it was the leading cause of death in 2022, accounting for over 74,000 deaths.

Mr Ensor is documenting his journey, which started on Tuesday, on a blog

The Ensors lived in Parbold, West Lancashire, for over 50 years and moved to Oxfordshire to be closer to family.

They had initially known each other as childhood friends, living close to each other in Rainhill, Merseyside, but were reunited at Mr Ensor's sister's 21st birthday party.

They married in 1969 and had two sons.

"It's my lifetime's ambition to raise as much as I can do fund the scientists who are developing medications and eventually, we hope, a cure for these terrible diseases," Mr Ensor added.

He has undertaken similar challenges, albeit not on the same scale.

In September 2022, he hiked 500 miles (805km) from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port in south-west France to Santiago de Compostela in northwest Spain, raising about £15,000 for charity.

And in September 2023, Mr Ensor set himself the challenge of hiking 34 miles (55km) around Lake Windermere in under 12 hours. He just managed to complete that, finishing in 11 hours and 54 minutes. His efforts raised about £4,500.

He is documenting his progress on an online blog.