Improving quality of life for people living with dementia

One of the great things about Pennies is that the money raised goes towards such a wide range of causes, from supporting families of sick children to caring for the elderly.

One of the charities benefiting from your pennies is the Alzheimer’s Society, which strives to improve quality of life for people living with dementia by investing in research and providing care, respite and services.

So far £8,600 has been raised for the Alzheimer’s Society by people choosing to join in the Pennies movement and donate their leftover electronic change. This vital money is helping the

charity continue their work in understanding dementia and supporting people affected by it.

So where do your Pennies go?

One part of the Society’s work is to invest in research that tries to understand more about dementia and helps improve quality of life for people living with it. Your pennies can help provide much needed support for researchers in this area.

This could be through the £50 it takes to fund the chemicals and consumables required for one day’s research into treating dementia or the £550 needed to get reagents for important microscopy work that helps understand the causes.

Alzheimer’s Society also provide local services such as the Carers Programme sessions, which offer practical tips and strategies to help carers cope with the impact of dementia, and gives them information about how to start preparing for the future. £3,000 could pay for seven of these sessions for up to 12 carers, as well as helping towards the costs of respite care to look after the person with dementia while their carer attends the session.

Peter and Sheila’s story

These services and others help improve quality of life for people living with dementia and their families. Two such people are Peter, 82 and his wife Sheila, 63. Peter was diagnosed with vascular dementia and Alzheimer’s disease in January 2009. He and Sheila use one of the Society’s services, Singing for the Brain, two hours every week. Hear their story about living with dementia: