Some of you know our beloved mum as BBC Radio 4's Scottish announcer, but many of you will have been on the receiving end of her kindness, wit and world-class brownies personally.

In March 2022 Susan Rae, our beautiful mum, was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's disease. After over 30 years on air, the condition has left her unable to work. Our subsequent struggles to secure even the necessities for her has shown us up close how truly broken the care system is in this country - and how self-sufficient those fighting health conditions have to be without the nest egg we're presumed to have.

Mum has been living independently in a retirement community apartment since June 2022, but her needs have recently grown and the cost that comes with that is unaffordable to our family. Shockingly, she is considered to be ineligible to receive any benefits that acknowledge her condition. Someone who has brought nothing but light into the world deserves so much better.

We're turning to our friends and family to build a secure foundation of support. The figure proposed is based on the cost of a year of home-visit care and food delivery services. Any stretch figure will go towards saving for mum's future.

Our mum has effortlessly made friends wherever she goes all her life. We hope this reaches as many of them as possible so we can send her a huge message of love.

Please give if you're able or get in touch with us directly if you'd like to help another way.

Rory & Finn x

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UPDATE:

We're blown away by all of your support, donations and kind messages. To have reached the initial target within less than 24 hours is testament to how many lives our mum has touched from every corner of her life. I've spoken to my mum and she feels so lucky to have so many friends - and wants to thank you for providing her 'beer & fag money'. Her wit hasn't gone anywhere.

Please keep sharing and spreading the word. Our next target is to ensure we are able to keep covering care costs as we gradually increase the frequency of a carer's presence, for unexpected emergencies and ultimately for future housing. Your donations are allowing mum the freedom to adapt to her new situation without the added financial stresses. I can't wait to share all of your messages with her.

Thank you all so much from the bottom of our hearts.

Rory, Finn & Susan x

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UPDATE 31/03/23

We're overwhelmed with the kindness of friends and strangers alike who have seen our struggle and are helping so much to alleviate it. Thank you all for your kind well-wishes and messages of solidarity for those who have experiences with this too.

Mum's all over the news after having usually been the one reading it to you all. She's reaping the kindness she has sown her whole life. She'd like to convey the following message to everyone:

"I'm overwhelmed. I can't believe my luck in having so many friends. I feel extraordinarily lucky. I'd say I'm speechless, but that's not going to happen."

We're now aiming for a continued stretch target and I wanted to put the figures into some context. Alzheimer's is a progressive disease, and how quickly it progresses depends on many different factors - so it can be really difficult to plan ahead.

The average annual cost of 14 hours of visiting care per week is about £15,000. If a care home is then required, it's around £27,000 - £39,000 per year, rising to an average of up to £55,000 if nursing care is required. This can be subsidised by the council or the NHS, but it is rarely free and it is far from guaranteed. Dementia research receives five times less funding than cancer research. It affects 1 in 14 people over 65 and 1 in 6 people over 80.

We are looking ahead with these figures in mind, having no idea when or for how long we may need to pay them. Please keep sharing, and please also think of the millions who are without a platform who have been left to fend for themselves too. There is a false assumption that everyone has pensions, spouses, savings, assets - or at least the assumption that if you don't have those things, you automatically qualify for benefits. These assumptions sadly aren't rooted in reality.

Your love has been a tonic for all of us.

Rory, Finn & Susan x

UPDATE 03/04/23

This week has been a whirlwind. I don't want to understate the weight off our shoulders that everyone's kindness has relieved us of. Incredible how things can change in just a few days.

We're making our way through everyone's messages, sorry if we haven't reached yours yet - delighted to say we've been inundated! I'll be reading all of them with mum this week and will transfer them to a book so she can always have access to them.

Many of you heard mum's beautiful reading of A Far Cry From Kensington by Muriel Spark on Radio 4's Broadcasting House yesterday. We've had many suggestions that mum could be narrating audiobooks or similar, to which I wholeheartedly agree, so I'd like to appeal for any leads to achieve this. Please message me directly with suggestions.

We'll continue pushing the target - each £15K is another year of visiting care and each £30K is one year of care home costs. The struggle is far from over but it feels a lot lighter now.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Rory, Finn & Susan x