Blog: How you can make a difference by supporting Alzheimer's Society at the 2019 BIAs

At the British Insurance Awards on 10 July, we’re delighted to support the charity partner – Insurance United Against Dementia. This year’s ceremony marks two years since the campaign was first launched, with leaders from the sector uniting to galvanise industry-wide support and awareness.

IUAD is an Alzheimer’s Society campaign, built in collaboration with the industry with two goals – to raise £10m for critical dementia research and create a dementia-friendly industry for clients, colleagues, and customers.

With half of us affected by dementia – either through living with the condition or by caring for a loved one – the time to take action is now. We’re extremely proud of our partnership with IUAD. Over the past two years, Crawford has committed over £20,000 to the campaign, through activities such as our Contractor Connection Conference, and the Insurance Day of Giving. More recently, a team of 13 from Contractor Connection took on Mount Snowdon to raise funds for the cause.

We’ve also launched Dementia Friends at our offices – empowering our people to understand dementia, and support people affected by the condition in both the workplace and their local communities. This fantastic initiative is transforming the way that people think, act, and talk about the condition. Many of our colleagues across the industry have already joined us in becoming Dementia Friends, and together we can ensure that we work in a sector that understands the toll that dementia takes, not just on those living with the condition, but those with caring responsibilities too. We can all play a part in creating a dementia-friendly industry that has the potential to benefit hundreds of thousands of people.

IUAD has come a long way since its launch in 2017. To date, over £1.8m has been committed to the campaign, and the industry has truly come together to support the cause that is so close to home for so many of us. Nothing illustrates this better than the Insurance Day of Giving, which in total raised £70,000 in one day, while Insure Trek brought together 25 people from 15 insurer and broker firms to take on Mont Blanc.

Our efforts – as individuals, as firms, and as an industry – are making a huge difference. Everything raised through IUAD goes directly towards the groundbreaking work taking place at the UK Dementia Research Institute. The institute launched last year, uniting 700 of the world’s brightest researchers across centres in six leading UK universities to accelerate progress towards new treatments, new ways of caring, and eventually a cure.

With dementia research finally at a tipping point, the UK Dementia Research Institute has been meticulously designed to change the course of dementia forever – transforming the lives of hundreds of millions of people. To date, research has been drastically underfunded, which has impeded progress, but with the launch of the UK DRI, we now have a vehicle for change. It’s critical that we invest in the work that will transform the lives of millions of people affected by dementia.

If you’re going to the British Insurance Awards this year, please show your support for IUAD. There will be donation envelopes on your tables for contributions, or if you prefer, you can donate online at www.alzheimers.org.uk/iuad. We’ve achieved so much already as an industry, and together we can help make significant progress in the fight against dementia.

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