RECORD numbers of people turned out to take part in the Corsham Memory Walk on Saturday all in aid of raising money for the Alzheimer’s Society.

Entries for this year's event sold out before the event had even started which saw 320 people make their way to Corsham Park to take part in the one-mile or six-mile walk around the grounds.

Julie Kemp, community fundraiser at the Alzheimer’s Society, organised the event and said the walk is believed to have raised £6,242 towards their target of £13,500 - with sponsorship money yet to be collected.

This includes £685 that was raised via various fundraising activities on the day.

She said: “This was the first time I had organised it but the walk itself is now in its third year.

“It was such a lovely day and we were supported by an amazing number of volunteers who made sure the day was a success.

“I think there were two things that were a highlight for me. The first was that it was incredibly moving to see people with their ‘I’m walking for a world without dementia’ t-shirts on with many people attaching a photo of their loved one. We also had a minute silence at the start of the walk and once it had finished there was a spontaneous round of applause which really got to me.”

Mrs Kemp said planning is now underway for next year’s event based on the popularity of Saturday’s walk.

She added: “So far we have had really good feedback and Corsham Court is a very picturesque landscape and so many of the walkers said they loved the scenery and we were very lucky with the weather because it was forecast to rain but the sun came out and it just made the day so much nicer.”

“It was nice to see families come cross the finishing line together for the same cause.

Best friends Louise Degville, 49 and Karen Leigh, 43 from Trowbridge took part in the memory walk – fresh from completing the Bath Midnight Walk in aid of Dorothy House just hours beforehand.

Miss Leigh said: “We did the Midnight Walk the night before and it wasn’t too bad as we got home just before 2am and we were up at 8am so we had a good four to five hours sleep. We only got tired near the end but we were glad to finish it.

“We both registered for the Dorothy House Midnight Walk a few months earlier and my auntie has recently been diagnosed with dementia and so we decided to do it because we had never seen a fundraiser for Alzheimer’s like it before.

“It is really important to do these walks because I didn’t want to let the charity down.”