About BRACE - Alzheimer's Research
The need for financial aid towards further research into the causes, diagnosis and treatment of these devastating diseases is urgent as funds for research in the NHS and Universities are inadequate.
The aims of the charity are therefore two-fold:
To provide funds to support the research carried out by the Department of Care of the Elderly under Professor Gordon Wilcock.
To raise public awareness of the plight of sufferers of dementing conditions and the effect their illness has on carers, friends and families.
The research takes place in three hospitals in Bristol, but the results of the research are not only being implemented in Bristol, but also nationally and internationally.
BRACE is a regional charity that is addressing a universal problem by helping to support these world-class researchers.
Dementia is a condition found predominantly in the elderly and as the life expectancy of the population increases is one that is having an increasing impact on the health of elderly people and their families.
It is not only the life of the sufferer that is affected, but the lives of those near to them as the person becomes increasingly unable to cope with even the simple things in life that we take for granted, such as washing, dressing or making a cup of tea.
At least 20 per cent of people over 80 years of age suffer from some kind of dementia, usually Alzheimer’s disease, and the cost to the state is over £1 billion pounds and rising.
The disease can strike people as young as 40, although this is very rare, and no one is immune.
Earlier diagnosis of the disease and an increasing public awareness of the condition are playing their part in highlighting the problem but further research is vital if we are to be able to cure or prevent this devastating disease ruining a happy old age.
There is a shortage of funding from the NHS and Universities to support research programmes of this kind and BRACE is one of only a few charities that fund dementia research specifically.
Many of the researchers are on short-term contracts and BRACE would very much like to be able to provide more secure employment for them so that they can continue their work and the programme does not lose their expertise.
The research team also has a ‘Wish List’ of items it would like and often desperately needs, to carry out research. The items range in price from around £50 to £3-4,000 and individuals or groups who would like the money they are donating to go to specific items or projects can select something from the list to sponsor.
BRACE raises funds through events, donations and legacies, and tries to keep costs down to less than 5 per cent of the money received.
Our history
In 1987, BRACE (Bristol Research into Alzheimer’s and Care of the Elderly) was born out of a small group established in 1983, known as Bristol Friends of Age Research (BFAR) supporting the then new national body of Age Research.
Generally speaking there was little or no attention paid to research in the elderly population and geriatricians were regarded as ‘eccentric’ or not bright enough to ‘make the grade’ in general medicine.
Only a handful of friends were prepared to help in any way and the first task of the newly formed committee was to raise awareness and gain credibility.
Professor Gordon Wilcock was appointed as the first Professor in Care of the Elderly in 1984. BFAR knew of his interest in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and also of the fact that he had only been given sufficient funding to support one assistant in his new department.
Being sceptical about the involvement of charitable funding in research and the NHS it was a little time before he agreed to BFAR transferring its support to his research and that is when BRACE was formed.
In the summer of 1987, a steering committee was formed from the old BFAR committee with a few new members. Four trustees were appointed: Professor Wilcock, Dr Brandon Lush, Mr David Pockney and The Rev Canon John Rogan.
The charity’s logo was produced and the list of patrons extended: The Rt Hon the Lord Mayor of Bristol; The Duchess of Beaufort (now sadly deceased); The Rt Rev the Lord Bishop of Bristol; Canon John Rogan; Mr Charles Clarke; William Waldegrave, Ms Mollie James and Mr Robert Bernays. The charity had just £3000 in hand at this time.
The charity was formally launched at the University of Bristol’s Senate House on September 24th 1987 with 175 guests. Further funds were raised on the night (£2,700) and BRACE was registered as a charity and duly received its charity number (297965).
The charity continued to raise funds through all manner of ways and has to date raised nearly £3 million to help support vital research by Professor Wilcock and his teams at Blackberry Hill Hospital, Frenchay Hospital and the Bristol Royal Infirmary.
The number of supporters has grown significantly and now has a regular mailing list totalling over 3,000.