Alzheimer’s Research UK has announced it reached an income of £42.2m for 2021/22, representing a record year for the charity and allowing it to invest more in research ‘than ever before’.
The record financial performance follows a challenging year for the charity due to COVID-19, as it was forced to put much of its activity on hold due to the pandemic. This included labs being hit by closures and restrictions, as well as the cancellation of fundraising activities.
As a result of the surge in income, the Cambridgeshire-based charity was able to invest £28.6m in its charitable activities, including £23.6m in ‘pioneering’ dementia research.
Shirley Cramer, interim chief executive of Alzheimer’s Research UK, said: “We were always open and vocal about the challenges we faced due to the pandemic, and we are humbled that our supporters rallied around us and have continued to as personal finances become more squeezed than ever.
“We had always pledged to redouble our efforts as soon as we were able to, and thanks to all those who continued to donate, fundraise and volunteer their time, we’ve been able to do just that.”
By 2025, around one million people are predicted to be living with dementia, increasing to 1.6 million by 2040. Dementia can affect the brain years before people show any symptoms, underscoring the need for treatments to be tested on people far earlier.
The charity reflected on its highlights from the year, including building on previous efforts to support early career dementia researchers – whose work was significantly impacted by the pandemic – to put a long-term strategy in place for keeping them in the field, which included an investment of £1.2m in six new projects led by early career researchers.
Notably, the charity also kept pressure on the government to deliver its Dementia Moonshot pledge to boost funding for dementia research, and called for a COVID-19 vaccine-inspired task force model to speed up the development and roll-out of new dementia treatments.
Subsequently, a new ‘national dementia mission’ was announced by the UK government in August, which included a recommitment to double dementia research funding to £160m a year by 2024.
“We’re making incredible progress and we are hugely grateful to all those who have made this progress possible – we’ll keep working to transform the lives of everyone affected by dementia,” Cramer said.