Local family business offers charity incentive

Local family run Rosedale Funeral Home are once again this year offering staff the charity incentive scheme ‘My Ten Days’. This incentive scheme, created by the Family Business Place, offers the opportunity for one member of staff to add another ten days holiday, with full pay, to their annual leave. These ten days are then used to volunteer or raise funds for a local cause or charity. Rebekah McNicol has been chosen this year and she will be supporting a charity very close to her heart, Alzheimer’s Society, and will be the fourth member of staff to be rewarded the incentive. “Over the last 18 months my awareness of dementia on individuals, their families and friends has increased dramatically not only through my job as a Funeral Administrator with Rosedale Funeral Home but also as I have seen its devastating impact on my parents” says Rebekah, Administration Support for Rosedale’s Norfolk homes in Attleborough, Diss and Wymondham. “I felt that I needed to be doing something positive to aid the Alzheimer’s Society, so I have signed up for the Ben Nevis Midnight Challenge which will take place on 5th July 2019. Now historically, I am not known for my love of walking and drove my parents and siblings to despair as I spent my childhood trailing after them, so I know that they are all proud that I have committed myself to this challenge and that I will be doing it in my parents honour”. Statistics produced by the Alzheimer’s Society show that there are currently 850,000 people with dementia in the UK, with numbers set to rise to over 1 million by 2025. This is predicted to soar to 2 million by 2051. 225,000 will be diagnosed with dementia in 2019, one every three minutes. In addition, 1 in 6 people over the age of 80 have dementia and 70 per cent of people in care homes have dementia or severe memory problems. Astonishingly there are also over 40,000 people under 65 with dementia in the UK. “It is fantastic that I have been chosen for the additional 10 days leave as I will definitely need these to train – Norfolk not being the ideal terrain in which to train for a mountain trek! I have weekends planned in various hilly locations throughout the UK over the coming months including walking some paths with my dad’s oldest friend and walking companion. In the meantime, if you live around East Harling and you see strange lights in the forest at 6am that will be me, with my friend Sheila who is joining me and my 3 dogs, all lit up, as we learn to navigate in the dark with head torches.” If you would like to sponsor or support Rebekah with her challenge and help her raise vital funds for this wonderful charity please visit www.justgiving.com/fundraising/rebekah-mcnicol. Or if you are interested in signing up to one of the many challenges such as the Midnight Walk Up Ben Nevis please visit www.alzheimers.org.uk.