Pauline Quirke’s son Charlie hopes to ‘make mum proud’ when he runs his first London Marathon this month to raise funds for Alzheimer’s Research UK following her dementia diagnosis.
The cruel condition increasingly robs sufferers of their memory and ability to carry out everyday tasks. Almost one million people in the UK have the disease, with Alzheimer’s being the most common type.
The actor, 31, is determined to help find a cure by taking on the gruelling 26.2-mile race on Sunday, 26 April, with a star-studded team and his fiancée Chloe Thornton, 27. The Birds of a Feather star, 66, was diagnosed with dementia in 2021, but the family only went public with the news in January last year when her husband Steve Sheen announced she would step back from all professional duties.
Charlie will be running the London Marathon(Image: Alzheimer’s Research UK / SWNS)
Charlie’s marathon team includes Hollywood star Jack O’Connell, who starred with Pauline in the E4 teen drama Skins, where she played DS Blunt investigating youth crimes.
Luke Roskell, whose first ever job was on Emmerdale with Pauline, is also running, along with Waterloo Road’s Adam Long, Gavin & Stacey’s Andrew Knott and sports broadcaster James Sharman.
Charlie told The Mirror: “It’s going to be a real honour. I told Alzheimer’s Research UK I’d only feel comfortable running if Chloe and James could do it with me, as the two people closest to me. When they said yes, we came up with the idea of forming Team Quirke and offered the opportunity to some of my best friends. When I said why we’d be running, they all agreed instantly.”
Pauline was diagnosed with dementia in 2021(Image: PA)
Her family publicly shared her diagnosis in January last year(Image: PA)
He added: “I just want to make my mum proud.” The team met their first £10,000 target within weeks thanks to generous donations from supporters, including actors James Corden, who gave £2,000, and Dominic Cooper, who donated £500. They have now upped their goal to £15,000.
“It’s incredible that we smashed our target so early,” Charlie said. “We’ve now upped it in the hope we can raise even more for the charity. We want to do everything we can to help find a cure for dementia. All the donations we raise for the marathon will support their search for a cure. With the right support and funding, we can improve our understanding of dementia and develop more effective treatments.”
Pauline and her film producer husband Steve, with whom she also has a daughter, Emily, 40, will be cheering on Charlie and the team proudly from home.
“[They] will be watching it on the tele as they have done every year, just this time, their little boy will be out there,” Charlie said. The actor, who played Travis in the Birds of Feather reboot between 2014 and 2017 alongside cast originals Pauline, Linda Robson and Lesley Joseph, added there will only be one thing going through his mind to get him over the finish line: “Purely and simply, mum.”
He said of living with someone who has dementia: “It really is different for everyone. Every day is a school day. The more awareness we can raise, the better for all.
“It’s a marathon not a sprint, which feels quite poignant.” Charlie’s fiancée Chloe, a tech strategist at Google DeepMind, has been firmly by his side since Pauline’s diagnosis.
They met at All Points East festival in London in 2021 and got engaged in Athens in late 2024. “We’re looking at wedding plans, but let’s get the marathon out the way first,” Charlie said.
