A woman has said she feels a “massive sense of accomplishment” after completing 50 challenges in 500 days to make sure her 50th birthday was celebrated in a memorable way and following the loss of her parents to dementia.
Shelle Luscombe, 51, from Hampton in London, told the PA news agency that she “wanted to do something memorable” when she turned 50, so set about asking friends, family members and even the general public to set her challenges in exchange for a donation to charity.
She also wanted the challenges to have a link to dementia, so decided to fundraise for Alzheimer’s Research UK – beginning her first challenge in July 2021, driving a barge up the Thames and broadcasting a radio show live from the boat.
Her mother Sue died aged 76 at the end of February 2022 from Alzheimer’s and Vascular Dementia, when Ms Luscombe was midway through her challenges.
Ms Luscombe said that the challenges served as a “welcome focus” for her to “plough her energy and grief into”.
“I was just about to complete challenge number 25 when mum died”, the self-employed singer, compere and event organiser added.
“I’ve been able to use the challenges to learn new skills e.g. playing the guitar, paddle-boarding or learning to drum.
Some of the challenges included climbing over the O2, performing stand-up comedy and learning to unicycle.
“Oh my God, the bruises,” she said about her attempts to unicycle.
“When I first started, I thought ‘how on earth am I going to balance on this little thing?’ It seems to sort of defy reason and science really.
“Half the battle is mounting the unicycle properly and finding your balance and I got quite good at doing that bit, but then I struggled to get the momentum to move forward.”
The challenge she is the proudest of was running a 5k at Eton Dorney Lake in Windsor in October 2022.
“If you told me a year ago that I would run 5k, I would absolutely not have believed you because I am not built for running in any way,” she said.
“But I quite enjoying running now, bizarrely and I would love to keep going with it.”
Another challenge she was particularly fond of was playing the drums.
“I certainly fell in love with drumming, and want to do more of it,” she said.
“I booked a slot at an open mic night and begged some friendly musicians to add the vocals, guitar and bass.
“Then it was just a matter of dragging a few folk along to watch and getting on with it. It was so much fun. I can testify that drumming is good therapy.”
“When I was completing a challenge that someone set me, they would usually come and watch and do it with me, or be there to cheer me on”, she said.
“I am very blessed – most people who have set me a challenge have made a donation and then made another donation when I’ve completed it.”
One of Ms Luscombe’s main aims for the challenges was to raise awareness and funds for research into dementia.
“So research is absolutely key as far as I’m concerned.
“Seeing just how much everyone has got behind what I’ve been doing has meant the world.”
“We are really grateful to Shelle for not only raising thousands of pounds for dementia research but also raising vital awareness of dementia and the diseases that cause it.”
More information on the challenges can be found here: https://shelleluscombe.co.uk/50-at-50/.
Details on the fundraiser can be found here: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/shelleluscombeofficial
