Alzheimer's Society and The FA partnership

We believe that football should be unforgettable. Football can create many of life’s greatest moments, shared with friends and family.

But unfortunately, many people living with dementia will forget.

The number of people living with dementia in the UK could fill Wembley Stadium 10 times over. The number whose lives are changed by the condition – carers, family, friends – is many millions higher.

Alzheimer’s Society is The FA’s official charity partner. Over two years we are working closely together to help football fans with dementia remain part of the game, advise on crucial dementia research, and increase awareness of our support services.

Throughout the partnership, we're also raising vital funds towards these services.

A brighter future for people affected by dementia

We’ve already made a great start, kicking off with an amazing launch at the Community Shield in August 2021, raising £120,000 and a dedicated Alzheimer’s Society International – England V Switzerland on 26th March 2022 raising nearly £70,000. 

Steve Freer, who lives with dementia, is a huge football fan and attended the match at Wembley Stadium. Steve shared his story on the England Football website.

Both of these events gave us a great opportunity to showcase our pioneering partnership, putting people affected by dementia at the centre of the story and signposting fans to our support services.

We are also ensuring that The FA and local football clubs up and down the country know how to refer employees, players, former players and fans to these services so that they can get the dementia support they need.

View some of the highlights from the England V Switzerland match in the gallery below:

Changing the conversation

It is also our aim to tackle the widespread stigma surrounding dementia, by raising greater understanding among the footballing community and beyond.

Through this partnership we are already seeing interest from our England players, who are sharing their personal connections to the condition in order to change the conversation and encourage fans to reach out for support. 

England's Lionesses share their experiences of dementia, and why they're supporting Alzheimer's Society in this video:

Making football dementia friendly

Coronavirus has left many with dementia experiencing isolation, missing activities, and losing their routines – all of which are so important in maintaining independence.

Creating a network of dementia friendly facilities within football and upskilling The FA’s employees will mean people living with dementia and their families can return to the game they love without fear.

This work will see us aim to make Wembley Stadium a dementia friendly facility at events, and we hope to announce these changes later in the partnership. Alongside this, we hope that this work will encourage other sports and venues to follow suit.

Funding world class research

Together with The FA, we’re committed to understanding more about dementia including the causes and risk factors, particularly as it relates to sport.

We will continue to push The FA to lead the way in world-class research - providing expertise to give us more answers and best protect players for generations to come.

As well as working with The FA, we're uniting the UK’s leading sports in the fight against dementia for the very first time through our Sport United Against Dementia campaign.

Sport United Against Dementia is funding dedicated sporting research involving elite rugby and football players to improve our understanding of the connections between sport and dementia.

By helping identify the very earliest signs of dementia, we can try and understand what might increase a person’s risk of developing the condition later in life.