Why I chose to support Alzheimer’s Research Trust through 7 Wonders in 7 Days
Here’s that long promised series of blog posts on why I chose each of the 7 Charities I am supporting through 7 Wonders in 7 Days.
This first instalment is a brief article on why I picked Alzheimer’s Research Trust.
In a sense, I’ve already shared why I am supporting Alzheimer’s Research Trust.
The About Page of this site details how I was inspired to start looking into a trip to “see the new 7 wonders of the world in 7 days, raising money for 7 charities” after being moved to tears by an episode of Channel 4’s Secret Millionaire TV show which showed a man caring for his elderly wife who suffered from Alzheimer’s.
I’d recently returned from a trip to my grandmother’s funeral in Nigeria. She died aged 83 from complications arising from Alzheimer’s. The TV programme was a stark reminder of how much she suffered.
As with the families of many of those troubled by this drawn out illness, mine had adjusted to life with a loved one who couldn’t recognise her own children and often broke into long spells of incoherent speech.
Closer to the end, it was my gran’s difficulties with motor functions that were particularly hard on us. She had to be coaxed to eat and to move about (to prevent bed sores) and the strain took its toll on the entire family.
Everyone helped as they could and both my immediate and extended family in Nigeria pitched in considerably. It was deeply troubling nonetheless.
My irrepressibly joyful yet tough gran, healthy in every other way, was now completely reliant on someone for help with the most basic of activities.
I will share more about my gran’s struggles with Alzheimer’s disease another time. This post is about why I chose to support Alzheimer’s Research Trust.
Their website states it very well:
The Alzheimer’s Research Trust is funding world-class research to find ways to cure, prevent or treat Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias.
The patron of this inspiring UK charity is Sir Terry Pratchett, the million selling comic fantasy author who was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s a few years ago.
Sir Terry Pratchett, whose publisher Colin Smythe was kind enough to send a signed children’s novel for the 7 Wonders in 7 Days charity auction in June, recently donated $1 million of his own money to the charity.
If anyone can get somewhere to finding a cure for Alzheimer’s disease, I’m sure the Alzheimer’s Research Trust will be involved.
Research into this disease is incredibly underfunded, worrying when according to the website:
“700,000 people in the UK have dementia, a number forecast to double by 2030. Much more research is needed if we are to minimise dementia risk for everyone, as well as develop new treatments that are desperately needed now.”
And in Sir Terry Pratchett’s own words:
“Like 700,000 others in the UK, I’m scrabbling to stay ahead long enough to be there when the Cure comes along. I was shocked when I found out that funding for Alzheimer’s research is just 3% of that for cancer, but care costs are billions of pounds higher for Alzheimer’s. It makes me want to kick a politician in the teeth. I hope the MPs who are backing my call for an increase in research funding will do more than just talk about it.”
Four members of the public founded the Alzheimer’s Research Trust in 1992 as a result of their deep concerns at the lack of funding for Alzheimer’s research.
Some of the Alzheimer’s Research Trust’s achievements include:
Helping the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s to become more accurate – many scientists agree that improving early detection of Alzheimer’s will help current and future treatments to be more effective. The Alzheimer’s Research Trust’s Clinical Research Fellow in Edinburgh showed that a reading test could help doctors to diagnose Alzheimer’s. (April 2003, Neurology, McGurn et al, Alzheimer’s Research Trust/William Lindsey Clinical Research Fellowship.)
Through 7 Wonders in 7 Days, I hope to support the great work of this charity and to support its research which I hope will benefit people suffering from Alzheimer’s disease in the UK and abroad.
Helping Out Via Social Media
One of the really helpful pieces advice that came out of the 7 Wonders in 7 Days Thank You Tweetup a couple of weeks ago was a suggestion about using the 7 Wonders in 7 Days campaign as a way to connect each of the 7 charities with their supporters using social media.
For the more tech-savvy charities like @BritishRedCross, @DiabetesUK and @YoungMindsUK who are already active on social media sites like Twitter, my activities on the campaign will provide something interesting for their supporters to get behind. More on this soon 
)
For smaller charities like Alzheimer’s Research Trust who operate with a much smaller team, I’m going to be teaming up with their marketing team to find out how I can best support their fundraising efforts via social media.
They have been incredibly supportive of the campaign, getting in touch before I even approached them.
It’s going to be an interesting ride.
I could go on but I’ll stop here.
What do you think? Your views welcomed as always. Let me know in the comments.
Related posts:
- Sir Terry Pratchett sends a signed book for the 7 Wonders in 7 Days Charity Auction
- Alzheimer’s Research Trust welcomes NICE decision
- Alzheimer’s Research Trust supporter Peter Ashley on Living With Dementia
- Why I Chose to Support Young People’s charity Young Minds through 7 Wonders in 7 Days
- How Far Can You Travel With Diabetes? Why I chose to support Diabetes UK…
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