“Would you be willing to stay for longer than the advertised tenure, should funding be available?”...was one of the questions Jill was asked at an interview in 1992 for a 6 month role as a research nurse within a Dementia Research Centre in a major London hospital. 

Seb similarly had no idea that a one year contract as a research assistant in 1999 would be the beginning of a life-long relationship with UCL (and still suspects the only reason he got the job was that he and one of his interviewers had both dragged themselves round the marathon that year).  

31 and 23 years later – we find ourselves so proud of the services that have grown and developed and humbled by the privilege we have been granted to walk alongside and share the journeys travelled by people embracing a range of rare and young onset dementia diagnoses.  

The Dementia Research Centre is world leading and working hard to find a cure for dementia. Rare Dementia Support provides a network of support for people living with a disease that is increasingly impacting families across the world. 

Under the charity umbrella of The National Brain Appeal, they are currently raising money to create the world’s first Rare Dementia Support Centre for people living with rare dementia diagnoses. 

Presenting typically in mid-life (below the age of 65) and not necessarily with memory led symptoms (but more often changes in their vision, language or behaviour), people with rare dementias are often very late to get a diagnosis and find themselves slipping through gaps in terms of care and support provision. 

The Centre will provide a safe place for those with a diagnosis of a rare dementia and their families too. It will offer support, advice and a place where medical and social research can continue. 

We would be so thankful if you felt able to help us raise money to take the plans for the Rare Dementia Support Centre to fruition.