New Alzheimer’s Research UK fundraising group launches in Oxfordshire

FOUR Oxfordshire women have set up a new fundraising group to help raise vital funds for Alzheimer’s Research UK.

The Oxford Fundraising Group will be running various events throughout the next few months across the county to help raise funds for dementia research.

Lucy Sammons decided she wanted to do something to help people with dementia towards the end of last year, shortly after her loving grandmother, Pauline, died from Alzheimer’s disease.

She quickly came up with the idea of setting up a fundraising group, hoping to convince some friends to join up too and help her in the fight against dementia.

She was delighted when three friends – who were all old work colleagues – quickly committed to becoming founding members with her. Anna Swan, Sarah Parker and Hannah Fisher have been meeting with Lucy for the last few months to plan the launch of their exciting new fundraising group.

They are already starting to plan activities after the group was launched on 7 June.

Lucy is hoping that the fundraising group’s work will resonate with people all over Oxfordshire. There are currently over 850,000 people living with dementia in the UK.

She said: “When you have a loved one with dementia, you realise what a horrible condition it really is. The experience made me much more aware, and a bit angry about the challenges facing people with dementia.

“When I looked into the statistics and found out just how many people live with dementia, I realised I needed to do something to help.

“I wanted to set up a fundraising group for Alzheimer’s Research UK because the work they do is really important to me. When compared to other conditions, research into dementia is underfunded. We need to keep fighting back against dementia and try to find new treatments.”

The Oxford Fundraising Group has “big plans” for the future. They’re aiming to create a diverse and fun group of people who all share the goal of funding research into dementia.

The group’s first event will be a quiz night on July 20 at The Kings Head and Bell in Abingdon.

Lucy and her three co-founders are now calling on Oxfordshire people to get involved and sign up to be a member of their fundraising group.

Lucy said: “I want the fundraising group to be really fun for everyone involved. It’s really important that we don’t wait, that we start doing something to support dementia research now. If you look at the massive strides that have been made in research into other diseases, there is hope.”

Lindsay Gray, Regional Fundraising Officer at Alzheimer’s Research UK, said:

“We would like to say a huge thanks to Lucy, Anna, Sarah and Hannah at the Oxford Fundraising Group for taking on this incredible initiative and for joining the fightback against dementia.

“Our mission is to bring about the first life-changing treatment for dementia by 2025. We can’t do this without the amazing work of our fundraising groups all over the country.

“We are delighted to have a new fundraising group in Oxfordshire and we hope that the community will get involved and more people will sign up to help raise vital funds for dementia research.”

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