WHY WE EXIST

Dementia is the UK’s biggest killer. In the UK someone develops it every three minutes and there’s currently no cure.

We help people with dementia navigate some of the hardest and most frightening times of their lives, from diagnosis, to needing greater care and hospitalisation, and end of life.

We are the only UK charity that campaigns for change, funds research and provides support to people affected by dementia, including those living with the condition and their carers.

We are advisors, supporters, fundraisers, researchers, influencers, communicators, technical specialist and more. We are volunteers, we are employees, and we are all here to make that difference. We’re looking for an exceptional candidate, who is an expert in their field and has a proven ability to work as a truly collaborative corporate leader.

We are led by people affected by dementia: working with them, standing beside them and being informed and inspired by what they do. People with dementia and their carers are at the heart of how we make decisions and design our services.

By better understanding people’s experiences at every stage of dementia, we enable people to have a choice and a voice in decisions that affect their lives. This helps them to receive the care and support they need, remain active in their local communities, actively shape research into dementia and to be heard by decision makers in the health and social care system.

OUR RESPONSE TO COVID-19 – A TRULY UNPRECEDENTED TWO YEARS

The last few years have been very difficult for everyone, but people affected by dementia have been worst hit.  Loneliness, anxiety and isolation have led to their condition deteriorating more quickly and increased pressure on carers. We are proud of how quickly and decisively we have been able to respond: transforming our services to virtual models; finding new ways of working; making tough decisions and making the most of the government’s financial support; and delivering outstanding fundraising – despite the significant challenges.

We are in the process of finalising our annual report and financial statements for the year 2021/22. Below are some of our highlights from the previous year and we welcome the opportunity to discuss the great progress we’ve made since with potential candidates as part of this process.

SUPPORT

Our service model, Dementia Connect, was designed in consultation with people affected by dementia – they told us what mattered to them. This service offers consistent information, advice and support to everyone affected by dementia, without losing the personal touch and care the Society is known for. This will help people remain independent for longer, safe in the knowledge that we’ll be there for them whenever they need us.

When lockdown limited our ability to deliver the face-to-face elements of our services, we reacted quickly to adapt our support for people. Importantly, these new services were perceived by staff, service users and volunteers alike to retain the high-quality standard expected of Alzheimer’s Society.

During 2020, many of our services transformed from face-to-face to virtual (online or telephone) delivery.

• From February 2020-January 2021, we provided more than 6,000 virtual group services to people affected by dementia.
• Service users said that virtual service delivery made them feel supported during lockdown. Groups like Singing for the Brain helped them to keep stimulated, active, and connected to peers.
• Our local services staff felt that virtual service delivery helped people to be more included and engaged, as those who had been unable to attend a face-to-face service (because of mobility or financial issues) could now attend.

Find out more about our support services on our website.

We increased the capacity of our Dementia Support Line and publicised it to people affected by dementia within days, allowing us to respond to huge demand.

In 2020/21, we received 53,967 calls, compared to 58,413 in 2019/20 (during which the service merged with the National Dementia Helpline).

We quickly produced an online coronavirus hub to offer expert information on coronavirus and dementia.

 

Our web pages and blogs were visited over 405,000 times. At times, the coronavirus content was among the most popular among our entire website.

 

In terms of offline information, because we couldn’t have face-to-face interactions, we adapted to send publications to people directly from the warehouse so they could get the information they needed.

We secured Department of Health and Social Care and Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport funding to help meet increased demand for our Dementia Support Line and our Companion Calls.

Since it started in 2003, our online community, Talking Point, has supported over 78,000 people –enough to fill Old Trafford football stadium! More than 5,000 new people joined this year. We created a new area to discuss COVID-19, adding regular updates with trusted information, providing a space to discuss the emotional impact of the pandemic, and sharing advice on how to spot misinformation.

INFLUENCING

Health and social care is in crisis in the UK. A lack of understanding about dementia and how urgent the situation is means people with dementia are trying to find their way through the maze without the support they desperately need and deserve.

We have campaigned tirelessly this year to try to make big changes to the experiences of people affected by dementia. This centred largely around the impact on care homes. In April we influenced the Department of Health and Social Care to publish a social care recovery plan which included a number of our recommendations, including:

• Relatives allowed to visit loved ones at the end of their lives in care homes
• New, emergency workforce to undergo mandatory dementia-related training
• Care home staff and residents promised to be protected with PPE and testing
• Patients to be tested prior to discharge from hospital
• We campaigned successfully for the publication of coronavirus deaths in care homes, which were initially left out of reports. This allowed people to see the real impact of coronavirus on care homes.

Our continued pressure on care home visits saw guidance change in March 2021 to allow regular ‘essential care giver’ visits for those who provide crucial care to their loved ones in care homes, along with a ‘single named visitor’ for every visitor, able to visit without social distancing measures. This allowed families their first face-to-face visits in a year.

Find out more about our research and campaigning on our website.

RESEARCH

Dementia is a condition of the brain, we know that research will help us beat it – and provide better care for the people living with the condition now.

We have spent almost £50 million on research over the past five years and expect to invest significant in research in future years. We fund research into the cause, care, diagnosis, cure and prevention of all forms of dementia.

Despite not being able to continue with all our planned research this year, we still had some notable successes.

45% of our funded researchers have been supported to adapt to deliver COVID-19 relevant research.

25% of our funded researchers have conducted research related to dementia or care homes.

Our three Centres of Excellence contributed evidence to four policy and campaigns reports, including Worst Hit: dementia during coronavirus, which formed the basis of our influencing activity over the year.

Our Accelerator Programme Partners launched Jelly Drops, hydrating sweets for people with dementia, and made over a million sweets to reduce the risk of dehydration, a major cause of hospital admission.

At the heart of our research programme are people affected by dementia, our dedicated network of over 360 volunteers all with personal experience of dementia. We’re committed to research that has the greatest impact and most benefit both in the short term and long term.

FUNDRAISING

Raising the funds to ‘do what we do’ is essential to everyone at the Society. We have an incredible award winning fundraising directorate. Despite challenging economic conditions, the continued support and generosity of our supporters helped to bring in essential fundraising income.

We raised more money in 2020 (calendar year) across the JustGiving platform than any other single charity. This is a remarkable achievement and is testament to work across the organisation to keep people focussed on the needs of people affected by dementia during the pandemic.

Our COVID-19 Emergency Appeal raised a massive £8.7m. We threw ourselves into virtual fundraising events, including challenges, events such as Carols at Christmas, and our long-running Memory Walks. This was a big change to how we do things but resulted in us raising huge amounts of money.

Our fundraising has continued to perform strongly during 2021/22, with the position for the year being finalised now with ambitious plans to grow further during 2022/23.

Find out more about our fundraising on our website.

HOW WE DO IT

We know every organisation says this: but our people are truly exceptional. We have 1,700 employees and more than 6,000 volunteers who are dedicated to making a difference for people affected by dementia.

How it ‘feels to be part of the Society’, and the fact that there’s ‘a certain buzz about the place’, is regularly mentioned by the people who work and volunteer here, and by our partners, visitors and stakeholders.

In January 2021 we launched our new values, which will be followed by a five-year culture development programme to build on our existing culture and co-create a fantastic culture able to support and enable our new strategy.

We’re actively and continuously working on engagement, ambassadorship, career development, diversity, well-being, leadership, management – and everything else that goes into creating a culture that enables our people and the Society to thrive.

Our volunteers are the jewel in our crown. We simply couldn’t do what we do without them. When we refer to our people, we mean our volunteers and employees – we’re all part of the same team. Our new strategy will require significant growth in the number of volunteers we need. So, recruiting, training, engaging and developing volunteers is a priority for us over the coming years.