MEMBERS of the public will 'dance for dementia' this Saturday at a charity fundraiser in Furness.

Proceeds from the event at the Coniston Institute (Coniston) will go towards the Alzheimer's Society and Alzheimer's UK.

There will be live music from Striding Edge, a Ceilidh band local to South Lakeland and North Lancashire, as well as a raffle, with prizes provided by local businesses.

The event has been organised by Dr Luke Whiley, a research associate at the UK Dementia Institute, Imperial College London, and his wife Dr Nicola Gray, a research assistant at the University of Reading. Dr Gray is from Ulverston in South Lakeland, and the pair retain close ties with the area - getting married in Kirkby Stephen last year.

Dr Whiley, 31, was inspired to take on a career tackling dementia during his school-years, when his grandfather Lionel was diagnosed with the disease (vascular dementia).

"The hard thing with it was the way it changed my grandfather. Another of the the real hard things was seeing the strain that it put on my mum and dad, and my grandmother as well," he said.

He will also be running the London Marathon next month to raise funds for the 'Dementia Revolution,' a campaign launched by the Alzheimer's Society and Alzheimer's Research UK to fund new research and challenge prejudices about the disease. Together, the pair have been named as the 'Charity of the Year' partners for the 2019 edition of the race.

Through his research, Dr Whiley hopes to challenge some of the misconceptions about dementia:

"I think there's a public perception that it's inevitable, but we [at the UK Dementia Institute] believe that it's treatable, and we just have to find that pathway or that mechanism that we can target," he said.

Tickets for the 'Charity Ceilidh Dance with Live Band in Coniston' are available for £10 from Eventbrite, or can be bought for £12 on the door. The event will start at 7pm and run till 11.