Supporter stories
International Volunteer Day
This International Volunteer Day, we want to introduce you to James Hems. He is one of our valuable Alzheimer’s Research UK volunteers, helping us in our mission to make breakthroughs possible. We couldn’t power all our fantastic research without generous individuals all over the country who dedicate time to volunteering.
Life with dementia: my family’s experience
Dementia leaves a person so reliant on so many other people that one person’s illness becomes the story of several others.
Santa Forgot and my family
But this year sees a new advert that’s got everyone talking and a lot of us shedding a tear. I’m talking, of course, about Alzheimer’s Research UK’s clever and poignant animated ad where we see Santa living with Alzheimer’s disease, as the world carries on around him and eventually starts to forget him.
Misleading myths
Agnes B. Juhasz, author of the new book The Dementia Whisperer: Scenes from the frontline of caring draws on Agnes’s real-life experiences of dementia to help others understand dementia and to share Agnes’ insights into approaches to care.
Growing neurons in dishes…really!
So, get this. Rick and his team of annoyingly talented scientists are growing human brain cells, or neurons, in dishes. Yeah – you read it right – brain cells in dishes. There are hundreds of dishes of neurons being ‘fed’ and incubated 24/7 by some of these obscenely dedicated scientists.
Making breakthroughs possible: a horse’s tale
Hello! My name’s Coda and I have been dancing circles for quite a few months now… something the humans call ‘dressage’. I like it because my riders, Dave and Ruth, seem very happy when they have a red ribbon to hold up. And also because I get yummy treats!
An unexpected wave of grief
The other day when at a friend’s house, I offered to make coffee. Reaching for some mugs, I found one which read: ‘I love my mum’. And suddenly I was knocked off balance by a flood of emotion – an unexpected wave of grief.
CAstle RidE for Alzheimer’s
I’ve hated Alzheimer’s ever since it took my nan from us. Now, 12 years on, I finally decided to do something to fight back.
Five minutes of amazing: my journey through dementia
Chris Graham was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s in 2010, aged just 34. Below is an extract from his newly released book detailing his mammoth 16,000-mile cycle ride around North America and Canada raising £40,000 for Alzheimer’s Research UK. ‘Five Minutes of Amazing’ was written with writer Wendy Holden.
Hope for the future
It’s hard to believe that you can find a positive in knowing that you have a 50/50 chance of developing Alzheimer’s in your 40s but that’s just what happened to me almost five years ago.
