£80k already raised in dementia battle
The memory and dementia research clinic at the RUH and the charity supporting it have already raised £80,000 since their launch in July.
Rice, the Research Institute for the Care of Older People, has announced that its appeal received early donations worth £80,000 at its launch event.
The ongoing appeal aims to raise £200,000 to fund a dementia research programme and to support the growth of Rice’s clinical and research capability into new areas of age-related illnesses.
“I am delighted to support the launch of this appeal as we are so fortunate to have Rice based in Bath with its internationally renowned research institute and memory clinic,” said Cara Charles-barks, CEO of the Royal United Hospital.
“The Rice Centre does an excellent job of supporting people in the Bath area facing agerelated challenges such as dementia and I’m excited to hear Rice’s plans to expand its research into new areas such as Parkinson’s.
“I’d like to thank Professor Roy Jones for his valuable contribution to dementia care in Bath and beyond and to lend our support to Dr Tomas Welsh and his team at Rice as they continue to build on this outstanding legacy.
“Good luck for a successful appeal.”
The appeal launch event, held at the Rice Centre in Bath, featured speeches from the Mayor of Bath, Rob Appleyard, the Research and Medical director at Rice, the wife of a Rice patient, and Professor Roy Jones, the president of Rice.
The early appeal donations were a grant for £75,000 contributed by Terry Pratchett’s Discworld Foundation and £5,000 donated by an individual supporter of the charity.
Other guests included Cara Charles-barks, CEO of Royal United Hospitals, Bath, senior staff from the hospital and from Age UK, Bath Mind, The Peggy Dodd Centre, Quartet Community Foundation and 3SG.
“The work at Rice resonates with me as I am a trustee of a local dementia charity and I believe it’s important to raise awareness of how people are living with these challenging diseases,” said the Mayor.
“Without local people supporting the research at Rice we wouldn’t understand as much about dementia support, care and treatment. On behalf of the city, I thank the team at Rice for all the work they do.
“I hope this appeal will raise the profile of Rice so more people understand the need for dementia research and the care provided by Rice’s Memory Clinic.”
Rice’s aim is to find a cure for dementia and the appeal will help fund research into Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, Parkinson’s disease and the decline of bone and muscle health which impacts greatly on the wellbeing of older people and their families.
According to the Alzheimer’s Society, only £90 per patient is spent on dementia research per year despite the total annual cost of dementia to the UK reaching £26 billion.
To read about Rice’s appeal, visit www.rice.org.uk/supportus/delivering-healthy-ageingpresidents-appeal. To donate, visit visit www.rice.org.uk/support-us.