AN athletic family will be working as a team this weekend to raise their target of £1,000 for The Alzheimer’s Society.

Full-time mum Jane Newsholme will be running Manchester’s BUPA Great Run on Sunday and her twin sons, Michael and Luke, aged 10, will be taking part in the event’s junior run on Saturday.

The family decided to raise money for the charity because Jane’s auntie and godmother Pat Ganderton, aged 75, suffers from the disease.

Around 700,000 people in the UK have a form of dementia and more than half of those affected have Alzheimer's disease.

The 43-year-old, of Firs Lane, Appleton, started running around 18 months ago but said she was just ‘plodding along’ before starting training in January.

She joked that her mum said that when she was younger she did not like walking let alone running.

She said: “I did the distance in 64 minutes but I am just hoping to get to the end!

“I believe it’s completely different when you do it on the day.

“Michael and Luke started training with me, it’s nice that we are all raising the money together.”

The boys, who are in year five at The Grange Junior School, Hartford, will be running 2.5km around Manchester City Football Stadium.

Dad Martin, along with other family members, will be at the finish line on Sunday to cheer his wife on.

Jane added: “I am not sure if I will celebrate after, I might just be in a big heap!”