Dementia Support Line
Our reach and impact
Read the full version of our Trustees' Annual Report & Financial Statements 2021/22
2021/22 was a year of change for Alzheimer’s Society.
Building exciting new partnerships and developing our ability to generate income.
Maintaining our Covid-19 offer of dementia support (through a blend of both digital and face-to-face services).
Lobbying for the rights of people affected by dementia.
"The health and social care system doesn't give people with dementia the information or support they need. Charities do. That's why Alzheimer's Society is so vital."
- Jim, living with dementia, Cheshire
As almost one million people with dementia struggled to access the right support, we campaigned to make a difference.
- The Cure the Care System campaign revitalised widespread social care campaigning.
- We called on the Government to prioritise quality social care across the UK.
- More than 27,000 campaigners signed a letter to the Health Secretary, asking them to allow in-person visits at care homes.
- More than 135,000 campaigners signed our petition to the UK government – making it our biggest campaign to date.
- Our efforts helped encourage a new cap in social care fees from 2023 onwards - a first step towards fairer, more affordable care for all.
We partnered with the FA and showed football should be unforgettable
We invested in research, supporting projects designed to bring long-term benefits to people affected by dementia
We showed football should be unforgettable
In 2021/22, we were thrilled to announce the Football Association (FA) as our official charitable partner. The partnership kicked off in August 2021, with a launch at the Community Shield.
- This was followed by the first-ever Alzheimer’s Society International match, between England and Switzerland, on 26 March 2022.
- The event reached 31.5m of UK adults through the media between January-March 2022 and resulted in a 64% increase in traffic to our homepage in the week following the match.
- The event also raised almost £70,000.
- We started working closely with the FA to help make Wembley Stadium a dementia-friendly space and hope other stadiums and sports will follow our lead.
Our work also encouraged the FA to support cutting-edge research that will continue to support football fans, both now and in the future.
“There must be people who have a Season Ticket but can’t go anymore because of a dementia diagnosis.”
Steve Freer from Leicestershire was diagnosed with early onset dementia in December 2017 at the age of just 57. He lives with his wife Carol who supports him.
Read moreStephen's Story
“It’s been a year of ups and downs, really,” says Steve. “The
highlight was working with Alzheimer’s Society on their partnership with the
Football Association and going to the England international and meeting Sir Geoff
Hurst. Absolutely fantastic. It was really good to see someone like that, who we
have seen on the TV so many times. But he just spoke to you nice and gently. Had a
bit of fun. That’s all you want really. Lovely. I was chuffed to bits. Anything
that’s different for me is good. I think it’s a good idea for the Society to join up
with the FA.”
Steve’s wife Carol agrees, adding, “There must be people who have a Season Ticket
but can’t go anymore because of a dementia diagnosis. Clubs could do more to be
dementia friendly. For instance, digital tickets. Well, absolute nightmare digital
tickets because Steve’s phone is a Doro phone. Don’t even go there.”
But Steve has found local Operation changes within the Society difficult.
“Steve used to get a real buzz from his work with Alzheimer’s Society locally,” says
Carol.
“He would be on interview panels and the girls who worked for you were great. There
was a Dementia Voice group that met every fortnight. But Alzheimer’s Society lost
the local contract. And that was a real shame. Now he’s joined with Derbyshire and
Nottinghamshire, but there aren’t that many people and they are miles away and they
are never going to meet up. It’s just on a Zoom. That was disappointing from our
side.”
Steve Freer from Leicestershire was diagnosed with early onset dementia in December 2017 at the age of just 57. He lives with his wife Carol who supports him.
We invested in research, supporting projects designed to bring long-term benefits to people affected by dementia.
In 2021/22, we funded awards spanning clinical, biomedical and care research, while ensuring people affected with dementia remained central to the programme.
- We invested £7m in 27 awards for new research through 2021/22.
- We invested £30m in active research projects.
- Our funding produced 311 new publications.
These projects will allow us to understand dementia from all angles, providing greater care and support for people affected by dementia today - and exploring new avenues for treatment, tomorrow.
“Dementia research is drastically underfunded. More than 95% of dementia researchers are forced to leave the field, simply because there isn’t enough funding.”
Dr Sarah Ryan is an Alzheimer’s Society funded early career researcher at the University of Manchester. Her work focuses on frontotemporal dementia (FTD).
Read moreDr Sarah Ryan's Story
“Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is one of the most common causes of dementia in
younger people, and typically affects people in their 50s.
In many cases, the disease is caused by a genetic error which can either happen
spontaneously or be passed down in families. I use cells grown in a dish to mimic
what happens inside the brain of someone with FTD, and try to understand how a
faulty gene stops brain cells from working properly.
I might be in the lab growing cells in a dish, looking down a microscope or doing
experiments to detect dementia-related proteins. Lab work usually means multitasking
and sticking to precise timings across the day, so I’m usually rushing around with
three or four timers set at once!
Dementia research is drastically underfunded. More than 95% of dementia researchers
are forced to leave the field after completing their training due to lack of
permanent jobs, simply because there isn’t enough funding to pay for them.
This is a huge loss of skill and knowledge and slows progress towards a cure.
Alzheimer’s Society funding is essential to retain talented scientists who are
passionate about dementia research and want to improve the lives of people living
with dementia in future.
My hope is to secure more funding to start building my own dementia research group
over the next few years. Ultimately, my research is all about understanding what
changes inside the brain of someone with dementia and why that happens, which I hope
will one day help us design new medicines to treat dementia.”
Dr Sarah Ryan is an Alzheimer’s Society funded early career researcher at the University of Manchester. Her work focuses on frontotemporal dementia (FTD).