31 Jul 2025
An RVN was joined by her colleagues to raise the sum for Alzheimer’s Research UK.
Chris Simpson
Job Title
From left: Sara Creech, Chris Loughran, Fiona Parker and Navdeep Chater during the challenge.
A veterinary nurse has completed a 12-hour marathon walk to raise more than £4,000 for charity in honour of her mother.
Chris Loughran, of Parker and Crowther Vets in Merseyside, raised the funds for Alzheimer’s Research UK after her mother, Pat, died in January following a battle with dementia.
Alongside vets Sara Creech and Navdeep Chater, as well as head nurse Fiona Parker, Mrs Loughran completed the 26-mile walk around Ullswater lake in Cumbria.
As well as accompanying her on the hike, her colleagues also helped her fund-raising efforts, and the quartet raised £3,188 via their JustGiving page.
The practice’s owners, VetPartners, then added £930 via its donation-matching scheme, taking the total to £4,118.
Mrs Loughran said she was “overwhelmed by the generosity” of those who donated and “delighted” with what they have raised.
She paid tribute to her colleagues who “looked after me during such a difficult time when I would come into work and be so upset”, and said the process of preparing for and taking on the challenge helped her work through her grief.
She added: “My mum was my best mate and a wonderful wife and mother, and it was difficult seeing her struggle, particularly in the last 12 to 18 months.
“She was a lovely lady who would have been so proud of the amount of money we raised.”
Mrs Loughran has been an RVN for more than 30 years and worked with animals for 44.
Since 2018, she has worked in Parker and Crowther Vets’ Formby and Maghull branches.
She said: “We have clients visiting the practice with their pets and they are accompanied by their loved ones as they have dementia.
“We do everything we can to explain things and support them during their visit. The more support and insight into the disease there is for people with dementia and their families, the better.”
