CEO Richard Milner talks to outgoing Large Charity Partner, Alzheimer’s Research UK, about the importance of scaling dementia research and how our contributions help.

At Chaucer, understanding the value charities have in the lives of our people and giving back to the communities we operate in, is really important to us. Since joining in April this year, I’ve been so impressed with the passion of our teams across the world and some of the creative ways in which we give back. This year our teams have pushed through long distance cycles in the heat of Singapore and Dubai, gardening and painting in London, competitive baking in Dublin, beach cleaning in Miami and park clearing in Bermuda.

In addition to the voluntary work, our people undertake in their own time and during their two allocated Corporate Social Responsibility days, our collective fundraising goes towards local nominated charities in each country where we have an office or hub.

In London, we choose two charities each year to focus our fundraising on, one large organisation and one smaller organisation. These are nominated and voted for by all UK staff, to ensure a fair selection.

For 2023 and 2024, Chaucer London’s Large Charity Partner has been Alzheimer’s Research UK.

As this period of fundraising for Alzheimer’s Research UK comes to a close, I wanted to share all the good work they do and sat down with Partnership Development Officer Emily Handley, to find out how our donations help.

We are the UK’s leading dementia research charity. We’re collaborating with the best scientific minds and organisations to revolutionise the way we treat, diagnose and prevent dementia. And then, we will cure it.

We've been around since 1992 and in that time, we have invested in about 1,200 projects and contributed to over 5,000 scientific publications, deepening our understanding of the diseases that cause dementia.

We don't just fund research into Alzheimer's disease, despite our name. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of dementia but our research explores other types, such as dementia with Lewy bodies, vascular, frontotemporal, and rarer forms.

Our strapline is “For a Cure”.

Our vision is a world free from the fear, harm and heartbreak of dementia. Our mission is to accelerate progress towards a cure, and your support is helping us get there. It's an exciting time for dementia research with new treatments on the horizon.

Right now, almost one million people are living with dementia in the UK. And if nothing changes, one in two of us will be directly affected by dementia - either by developing the condition ourselves, caring for someone with it or both.

In fact, dementia is the biggest cause of death in the UK, which really surprises people, who often think it would be cancer or heart disease.

Many of us know all too well the heartbreak dementia causes. It’s vital we put a stop to it and that’s exactly what Alzheimer’s Research UK will do. We’re the charity spearheading the search for a cure, but we can’t do it alone. We need people to stand with us.

In July this year, a new report from the Lancet Commission identified 14 modifiable risk factors for dementia, two more than we knew previously. Taken together, the researchers calculated that these 14 risk factors account for 45% of all dementia cases around the world. That means there’s a huge opportunity to reduce your risk of developing dementia.

Although we weren’t directly involved in the research, two new Alzheimer’s treatments, lecanemab and donanemab, have been approved for use in Britain in the last two years. This is incredibly exciting news, proving that life-changing progress is being made. However, these are the first and are not perfect, nor are they available through the NHS, due to their significant cost. To change this, we’re working with leaders in the NHS, industry, regulators, government and people affected by dementia to ensure new treatments are made available to anyone who needs them.

Although every donation big and small matters to us, corporate sponsorships help hugely because you have so many people pulling in the same direction for us at once. We give partners the choice of supporting specific research initiatives, or donating to our general fundraising pot.

We’re grateful for the incredible amount of money that Chaucer has raised and would like to thank you all so much for your generosity. By donating, including us on your website and having conversations like this, you’re helping us to spread awareness and find a cure for dementia.

You can visit our website, Alzheimer's Research UK to learn more about our research, make a personal donation commitment, or sign up to be part of our fundraising efforts. You can do many things, from buying our Christmas cards to hosting a quiz, or running a marathon for us.

The website also includes a wealth of information about the different types of dementia as well as other ways to support, like leaving a gift in your Will and our volunteering opportunities.

There is also the Think Brain Health Hub which includes a simple check-in tool to understand the different risk factors and get personalised brain health tips: Brain Health Check In

You can also find us on social media – we’re so pleased that our social audience grew by 45% in the past year - we now have over 359,000 passionate supporters. Join us!