In 1979, I met two extraordinary women, Cora Phillips and Morella Fisher. Both were former carers for their husbands who had young onset dementia, and we all shared a bold ambition to create a world without the disease.
The catalyst for our meeting was Professor Alan Davison, neuroscientist at The National Hospital for Nervous Diseases in London, who I was collaborating with on research into the biochemical changes in the brain in Alzheimer’s Disease.
Professor Davison and I had been discussing establishing an organisation to promote Alzheimer’s research when Cora contacted him after hearing him speak on the radio, and asked Professor Davison to support forming a society to improve care for people affected by dementia.
He suggested we meet, and Cora invited me to her home in Hindhead, where I also met herlate husband’s neurologist, Anne Hunter.
We agreed to establish a steering committee meeting in people’s homes in Surrey which put together a constitution for the ‘Alzheimer’s Disease Society’, as it was then called.
Unknown to us, Morella Fisher had established a similar organisation which featured in The Observer that December. We invited her and her members to join us, and our two groups merged in early 1980.
Together, Cora and Morella were a formidable driving force with remarkable energy and enthusiasm.
Back then, we didn’t even use the word dementia in polite conversation. Families whispered about “senility” or simply didn’t speak about it at all. There were few memory clinics, no specialist nurses, no helplines to call. These families were invisible, and so was the condition destroying their lives.
We had a radical vision: to break the silence, provide help and hope to everyone affected, and drive research toward effective treatments. As a Geriatrician, I saw firsthand how little we understood about dementia and how desperately families needed support.
Professor Davison secured the venue for our first AGM at the National Hospital in September 1980, attended by nearly 100 people of a total membership of 370.
Fundraising came from 20 local groups, our newsletter and grants, including one from the DHSS enabling us to establish our first office in Fulham in 1981. Two years later we were awarded our first research grants, and now, 45 years on, the transformation is extraordinary.
We’ve reached hundreds of thousands of people through our services, changed the national conversation on dementia, invested over £120million into research and campaigned relentlessly for people affected to have the support they need.
How to sign up to our 2026 Metro Lifeline challenge
This year Metro.co.uk is proudly supporting Alzheimer’s Society for our 2026 Lifeline campaign.
On Saturday 13 June 2026, we’re inviting our readers to take on an incredible challenge: an epic hike through the stunning Cotswolds countryside — all to help support people living with dementia.
Choose your distance: 25km, 50km or 100km.
With registration starting at just £15, and fundraising targets of £150 (25km), £225 (50km) or £330 (100km), you can push yourself as far as you want — while helping fund vital support and research.
Whether you sign up solo or take on the challenge with friends, you’ll be part of Team Lifeline, with plenty of guidance, encouragement and support along the way. Every mile you walk and every pound you raise will help make a real difference for people facing the daily realities of dementia.
For our ‘everything you need to know’ guide, click here – or if you’re already raring to sign up, click here.
Dementia is now the UK’s biggest killer and Alzheimer’s Society has grown into the UK’s leading dementia charity. Since its launch countless research breakthroughs have greatly improved our understanding of this devastating disease, helping to bring it out of the shadows and driving better care across healthcare.
When we started, we barely understood what caused Alzheimer’s disease. Now research suggests we can identify biological changes in the brain decades before symptoms appear, memory clinics exist in every major hospital, specialist dementia nurses support families through diagnosis, and research programmes across the country are uncovering new insights every day.
I’m particularly proud that Alzheimer’s Society funded research 30 years ago that revealed early detection was possible. Those findings paved the way for the breakthroughs we’re seeing today.
My research career has also contributed to developing treatments that millions now benefit from. I led some of the first European clinical trials of cholinesterase inhibitors – the drugs that remain the main treatment option for Alzheimer’s disease today. Seeing those early trials progress from laboratory research to treatments that genuinely help people has been one of the most rewarding aspects of my work.
But now we are at a tipping point.
For the first time, we have disease-modifying therapies that may slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease. They’re not cures, but they represent a fundamental shift. We’re no longer just managing symptoms; we’re intervening in the disease process itself.
When we started this journey in 1979, we envisioned a world where dementia was understood, where families weren’t left to struggle alone, and where science might one day offer real hope. We’re closer than I ever imagined.
Dementia devastates lives, but it’s not an inevitable part of ageing. This generation could end the devastation caused by dementia, but only if we work together.
This is why we’ve partnered with Metro’s Lifeline campaign this year. Metro is, and has been, a staunch advocate for the dementia community, having helped to place a shining light on the condition in recent years, championing the voices of those directly affected.
Their desire to bring an end to dementia’s devastation and invoke change on a national scale is exactly the fundamental change we dreamt of almost 50 years ago.
If we learned anything from those early days sat around the kitchen table, it’s that change is possible when people unite with determination. The vision we had then – of a world where dementia no longer devastates lives – is finally within reach.
