Thank you for visiting my fundraising page for Project Hope - a groundbreaking research into dementia, which you can read about below.

My lovely mum lived with dementia, and we believe she was fortunate to have a diagnosis followed by access to treatment, which helped to improve her quality of life.

Mum tragically passed away very suddenly at the start of this year. Our family is heartbroken, but we are keen to channel our pain and energy into something positive to help others, through the work of Project Hope.

When we were little, Mum introduced me, my sister and my brother to a variety of lessons for our musical, sport and dance hobbies. She took us to lessons, competitions, festivals, exams, displays and more.

We will be forever grateful. For that reason, I hope to raise money through playing the piano and love for sport, in Mum's memory.

It's been almost 30 years since I seriously played the piano. That's a story for another day about how it came back into my life... but in the last year, I've taken lessons again, been practicing old and new tunes... and it's brought it so much joy and comfort.

I hope that through tickling the old ivories again for family or friends in a variety of settings, I can brighten someone's day with a smile and raise some funds too. Watch this space....!

Thank you for your support.

Lorraine x x x

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About Project Hope - a partnership between PIB Group and the Alzheimer’s Society to fund a transformational and groundbreaking research project that aims to change the landscape of dementia and other brain diseases.

With commitments already received of over £500k towards the Research Fellowship, PIB Group is aiming high to achieve a stretch target of £1m, offering help and hope for those living with dementia.

Can you help? With the appeal extended across the company, a range of activities are underway to encourage colleagues to get involved, and with up to £50k match funding available from the PIB Trust.

Our specific target now is to raise £100k across the PIB Group this summer, inclusive of match funding, and take the total raised for Project Hope to £750k by the end of 2025.

So, whether it’s getting active through walking, trekking, running or something else... sharing your hidden talents for some light entertainment, there should be something for everyone.

Every penny counts and donations of all sizes are hugely appreciated – both by PIB and by our friends at Alzheimer’s Society.

- You can donate directly to this page

- Or create an associated 'Team page' if you are creating your own supporting fundraising activity to go towards Project Hope. You can track your fundraising activities there, while also seeing how it contributes to the overall target.

More about the project:

Across the UK, hundreds of thousands of people live with Alzheimer’s disease, motor neurone disease (MND), and Parkinson’s. Dementia, caused by Alzheimer’s and other diseases of the brain, affects 900,000 people in the UK with a further 700,000 acting as unpaid carers for their loved ones living with dementia. It is expected that nearly 1.4m people will be living with a dementia diagnosis by 2040.

To help change the landscape of dementia and other brain diseases PIB Group have joined forces with Alzheimer’s Society to launch ‘Project Hope’. Our ambition is to engage PIB’s people and networks to come together and wholly fund a pioneering research fellowship – a transformational five-year project exploring the breakdown of connections between brain cells.

Different areas of the brain communicate through connections between brain cells, called synapses. In many diseases that cause dementia, the synapses are lost. Brains affected by such diseases experience several other changes too, including the clumping of a protein called TDP-43.

Dr Chris Henstridge and his team at the University of Dundee are investigating how through this project this protein may lead to the breakdown of the connections between brain cells. Finding out how TDP-43 proteins contribute to the loss of brain cell connections could reveal ways to help detect signs of disease and prevent it from happening.

Our collective support through this project will provide people living with diseases of the brain hope of an earlier and accurate diagnosis so they can plan for their future and benefit from future treatments that may be developed.

In supporting Project Hope, you will be helping to drive real change at the most exciting period of dementia research in decades. We’ve already seen the first disease modifying treatments for Alzheimer’s disease go through approval processes in the UK last year.

Thirty years ago, research funded by Alzheimer’s Society, led by Professor Sir John Hardy, made the historic breakthrough which discovered the role of amyloid protein plaques in Alzheimer’s disease which made these drugs possible.

Now you can play your part in funding future breakthroughs, providing help and hope to those living with dementia and helping drive real progress towards a cure for this cruel disease.

Together we can help and are helping end the devastation caused by dementia.