Impact review 2011/12

• Jeremy Hughes - Chief Executive
• Alastair Balls CB DL - Chair

Welcome to our Impact review 2011/12.

This year has been a landmark one for the Society and people affected by dementia, with major achievements in all areas of our work: care, support, campaigning and research.

We ended the year with the Dementia 2012 conference and launch of our offirst annual assessment of how well people with dementia are living in the UK. The conference also saw the Prime Minister launch his Challenge on Dementia - the first time any Prime Minister has made dementia a key priority.

As a result of the PM's challenge, the Government has committed to more than double the funding of dementia research from £26m to £66m by 2015. Our own investment in essential research into the cause, cure, care and prevention of dementia continues to grow. Our programme of new grants and fellowships is uniquely informed and monitored by people affected by dementia, through our Research Network Volunteers.

Whilst working closely with the Government on its commitment to tackle dementia, we have also joined with other charities to highlight the need to address the overall funding crisis in social care and to seek to protect patient interests as the NHS in England is radically reformed. We were also central to the adoption of dementia plans in both Wales and Northern Ireland.

This year, we continued to increase the services we provide and we continue to develop groundbreaking services for all people affected by dementia. Many of these - like Singing for the Brain® and Dementia Cafés (sometimes called Memory Cafés) - are provided locally by a record number of volunteers supported by our dedicated staff. Other services, like our National Dementia Helpline and Talking Point online community, support people wherever they live. And, thanks to the magnificent support we received from Tesco as their Charity of the Year, alongside Alzheimer Scotland, our number of dementia support workers increased during the year.

Despite the UK recession, our supporters continue to be incredibly generous, and our voluntary income increased to £41.1 million from £32.1 million last year - a remarkable achievement, which contributed greatly to our overall income of £71 million.

Towards the end of 2011, we involved many volunteers and staff across the Society in developing our ambitious five-year strategy, Delivering on dementia. Through local meetings across England, Wales and Northern Ireland, we were pleased to meet with them at the start of 2012 to introduce the strategy and to witness their passion to do more in our services, our campaigning, research, and in our fundraising.

We were proud to end the year hosting the International Conference of Alzheimer's Disease International in London for the first time in its 27-year history. We welcomed 1,600 delegates from around the world, including a greater number of people living with dementia than ever before.

Of course, we could not achieve all of this amazing work without the support and guidance of our committed Board of Trustees, who are supported by the Senior Management Team.

Through the continued passion and dedication of our volunteers and staff, and the generosity of our many supporters, we are confident we will achieve all we have committed to achieve in the first year of our ambitious strategy to transform the lives of people with dementia, their families and carers.