Turning 50 is a milestone to be celebrated!
When Shelle turned 50 in July 2021, she wanted to do something memorable to celebrate her half century, so she launched an initiative to complete ‘50 Challenges at 50‘, all in aid of Alzheimer’s Research UK.
Visit the JustGiving page for further details here.
“My family have travelled a difficult path with dementia; it’s an awful illness, which robs people of their dignity, their relationships, and their soul, and there is currently no cure.
- Dementia is now the number one cause of death in the UK
- For every four cancer researchers, there is only one dementia researcher, worldwide
- One in three people born today will develop dementia in their lifetime
- The annual cost of dementia to the UK economy is circa £26bn, which is greater than the cost of cancer and heart disease put together
“Research is absolutely critical if we are to understand more about the causes of this awful illness. Alzheimer’s Research UK is on a mission to bring about the first life-changing dementia treatment by 2025, hence they are my charity partner for this initiative.
“All 50 challenges have been set for me now and I’m working my way through them. You can still donate, however, and every penny counts! Thank you.”
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#11 Bake off this is not!
"Well, can you bake something that's edible?" Those were the exact words that Anne Speak asked when conjuring up a challenge for me! To be fair, I had just told her that I'm hopeless in the kitchen... To mark Silver Sunday, and as part of the annual 'Full of Life'...
#10 Abs? What abs?
Oh there they are! Seven days of 50 sit ups a day ensured I located my abdominal muscles and made them scream, just a little bit! When my friend Louise challenged me to this mini fitness task, it seemed pretty straightforward. I've been seeing a PT since January, as...
#9 And… jump!
4.5 hours of waiting - 1 plane - 6 nervous skydivers strapped to 6 experienced tandem instructors - 15,000 feet/3 miles above the ground - 60 seconds/2 miles of freefall - 6,000 feet parachute deployed - 1 smooth landing - 1 ecstatic Shelle - I’ve come to the...
#8 Get down on the floor and give me ten burpees!
In a quest to improve my health and lose some weight in time for my 50th birthday, I started seeing a personal trainer once or twice a week at the beginning of 2021. Her name is Hannah, and she's become a mate along the way. At the end of one session in the sunshine,...
#7 Whatever you do, don’t fall in!
Paddleboarders always look so serene, don't they. As a self-confessed water junkie, I just love to be on or near the water, but I'm not so great at being in it as I'm really not a strong swimmer. So, I've always admired paddleboarders for their apparent fearlessness....
#6 Numbers numbers numbers
I've been self-employed now for 11 years and I've always been really good at keeping on top of my bookkeeping. I've never liked the idea of it building up and up, then having to deal with a year's worth of invoices and receipts in one lump. And yet, in the last year,...
#5 Walking away
This series of photos is symbolic of me walking away from an unhealthy business relationship that I've been in for many years. OK, so this challenge is a little unusual and, I'll admit, I've kind of done it all the wrong way round. Facing it was unexpected and...
#4 You light up my life no more
My relationship with cigarettes goes back more than 35 years. Eek! As a very awkward and lonely teenager, I was bullied at school, and I remember trying to get on the good side of one of my bullies in a period when she’d decided to be my friend. We nicked a packet of...