Dame Judi Dench and neurologist Professor David Brooks are among prominent supporters who have joined our landmark programme championing the rights of people with dementia and their carers.
The Vice-Presidents, Patrons and Ambassadors programme was launched by Alzheimer's Society at the House of Lords on Thursday 15 March 2007, with more than 30 influential people from the worlds of business, politics, science and the arts.
Britain's first minister for the disabled the Rt Hon. Lord Morris of Manchester, a long-standing supporter of the charity and a Vice-President, hosted the launch.
Prof David J Brooks
Patron
Prof Brooks is senior neurologist at Imperial College, London and head of the Neurology Group at the Medical Research Council Clinical Sciences Centre. He is a leading figure in the field of dementia research.
Dame Judi Dench
Patron
Dame Judi Dench's recent film roles include Notes on a Scandal. Her role as Iris Murdoch in the film Iris (2001) won critical acclaim for her moving portrayal of the writer's journey into dementia.
Britt Ekland
Patron
Actress Britt Ekland has spoken of her experiences caring for her mother who had dementia and died in 1994. Her film credits include Get Carter and the cult classic The Wicker Man.
Lord Moser
Patron
Lord Moser taught statistics at the LSE and worked as a senior statistician for three Prime Ministers. His current roles include Advisory Council of the London Symphony Orchestra.
Prof Steven Rose
Patron
Prof Rose is a neurobiologist and Professor and chair of the Department of Biology, Director of Brain and behaviour research Group at the Open University. He is a widely published author in his field.
Rt Hon David Blunkett MP
Vice President
David Blunkett is a Labour MP for the Sheffield Brightside constituency. He has been a long time supporter of the Alzheimer's Society, particularly the local Alzheimer's Society in Sheffield.
Baroness Browning
Vice President
Baroness Browning is a former deputy chairman of the Conservative Party. She was MP for Tiverton and Honiton for 18 years, before in 2010 being raised to the peerage as Baroness Browning of Whimple in the County of Devon. During her political career she has been concerned with a range of issues including autism and dementia.
Prof Jim Edwardson
Vice President
Prof Edwardson was the founding Director of the Institute for Ageing and Health and is the founding chair of Years Ahead - the North East Regional Forum of Ageing and Health founded in January 2005.
Sir John Gordon Hannam
Vice President
Sir John Gordon Hannam is a former MP and one-time co-chair of the All Party Disablement Group.
Dr Anne Hunter
Vice President
Dr Anne Hunter (now retired) was a consultant neurologist based in Haslemere and was a founder member of Alzheimer's Society in 1979.
Morella Kayman
Vice President
A former opera singer, Morella helped set up the Alzheimer's Disease Society before it became the Alzheimer's Society and is an active fundraiser through her golfing organisation - Alzheimer's Disease Golf Society.
Dr Christine Kirk
Vice President
Dr Kirk is a former senior psychiatrist and has been a leading volunteer with the Alzheimer's Society since 1979.
Lord Morris of Manchester
Vice President
The Rt Honorable Lord Morris was the country's first minister for the disabled and is a long-term supporter of the Society.
Baroness Murphy
Vice President
Baroness Murphy is a former professor of old age psychiatry Guy's and St Thomas' Hospitals United Medical Schools.
Anne Robinson
Vice President
Broadcaster and journalist, Anne Robinson has a long association with Alzheimer's Society since contacting the charity when her mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer's.
Prof Martin Rossor
Vice President
Prof Rossor is director of the Dementia Research Centre at the Institute of Neurology and is consultant neurologist at St Mary's Hospital and the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery where he is chairman of the Division of Neurology. He was recently appointed director of the Department of Health Clinical Research Networks for Dementias and Neurodegenerative Diseases (DeNDRoN).
Lady Saunders
Vice President
Former TV, radio presenter and writer Katie Boyle is best known for presiding over the Eurovision Song Contest in the sixties and seventies.
Malcolm Wicks MP
Vice President
Mr Wicks is the Labour MP for Croydon North. His nine-year ministerial career under the previous government ended in October 2008. His final government post was Minister of State at the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (Energy).
During his political career he has been concerned with many issues including family carers and long-term care.
Prof Gordon Wilcock
Vice President
Prof Wilcock works in dementia care research at Oxford University. He has a long established relationship with the Society and is a member of its Medical and Scientific Advisory Committee.
Nori Graham
Vice President
Dr Graham is Fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, Emeritus Consultant in the Psychiatry of Old Age at the Royal Free Hospital and Mental Health Consultant to a nursing home in London. She is a former chairman of Alzheimer's Society and honorary Vice-President of Alzheimer's Disease International.
Peter Ashley
Ambassador
Peter Ashley has been a Trustee of Alzheimer's Society and is a member of the Alzheimer Europe working group on Advanced Directives and the NHS/SCIE National Institute for Clinical Excellence Dementia Guideline Development Group. Peter is retired from business where for the last ten years of his working life he was the Group Technical Director of a public computing PLC. Speaking of his own dementia diagnosis, Peter says he is "living with" not "dying from" dementia.
Lynda Bellingham
Ambassador
Actress Lynda is best known for her TV roles including At Home with the Braithwaites and All Creatures Great and Small. Her mother had Alzheimer's disease.
Nick Bence-Trower
Ambassador
Nick Bence-Trower works at Schroder Investment Management Limited and has supported Alzheimer's Society since 2002. He has raised over £50,000 for the Society's work by running, amongst other events, eight marathons.
Baroness May Blood MBE
Ambassador
Baroness Blood is a Labour peer. She was a prominent trade unions activist in Northern Ireland. She is a passionate advocate for those living with the effects of poverty, particularly in relation to housing, unemployment, the elderly and early years education.
John Bowis OBE
Ambassador
John was a Conservative Member of the European Parliament for London between 1999 and 2009. He was the founding signatory of The European Parliament's Written Declaration on Alzheimer's Disease calling for it to be recognised as a European health priority. The Written Declaration was adopted in March 2009.
Rosie Boycott
Ambassador
Feminist and academic who co-founded the women's mag' Spare Rib in 1971. Also co-founder of Virago Press, a publisher committed to women's writing. She was the editor of Esquire magazine, as well as of the Independent on Sunday, the Independent and the Daily Express. Rosie's father had dementia.
Jo Brand
Ambassador
Stand-up comedian Jo Brand is a former psychiatric nurse who worked with dementia patients for 10 years and has first-hand experience of caring for people with dementia.
Richard Briers
Ambassador
Actor Richard Briers is known for TV classics such as The Good Life and starred as a spouse who cared for his wife with Alzheimer's disease in DAD, a Comic Relief drama highlighting issues surrounding elder abuse.
Paul Brooks
Ambassador
Mr Brooks is a long term supporter of the charity and has established the Society's William Brooks Volunteer Awards in honour of his father.
Graham Browne
Ambassador
Graham is a member of the Living with Dementia volunteer group. His work for the Society has included speaking about his experiences of living with Pick's disease at the launch of the Dementia Out of the Shadows report, attending the KPMG Disability Steering Group and participating in the UK Dementia Congress in Bournemouth.
Tania Bryer
Ambassador
TV presenter, writer and charity campaigner, Tania has spoken about her father Lionel who had Alzheimer's disease.
Paul Dacre
Ambassador
Paul Dacre is the Editor in Chief for the Daily Mail and its parent Associated Newspapers. He is director of the Daily Mail and General Trust plc.
Lord Fellowes of West Stafford
Ambassador
Oscar-winning screenwriter, author, actor and director, Julian Fellowes is an ardent advocate of the issues and causes affecting older people. Recently known to TV viewers as the writer of the critically-acclaimed drama series Downton Abbey, Lord Fellowes brings a huge range of experience and passion to the Society.
AA Gill
Ambassador
Columnist and author AA Gill has spoken about his father, award-winning filmmaker Michael, who had dementia.
Russell Grant
Ambassador
Astrologer and television presenter, Russell Grant has spoken about his grandmother's diagnosis with Alzheimer's disease.
John Griffith-Jones
Ambassador
John is a Senior Partner and Chairman of KPMG. He is also a member of the MCC, Royal West Norfolk Golf Club, Whites and a Liveryman of the Skinners, where he sits on the charity committee.
Alison Halsey
Ambassador
Alison is a Senior Partner at KPMG. She was the Lead Partner for the two year charity pairing of Alzheimer's Society with KPMG which raised over £1m. Alison has previously been a Trustee of the National Autistic Society and The Cystic Fibrosis Trust and is currently playing a founding role in a Social Enterprise for young adults with learning difficulties.
Dame Denise Holt DCMG
Ambassador
Dame Denise is a former British Ambassador to Mexico and Spain where she devoted a good deal of time to the plight of the many elderly British citizens living there. Now retired from the FCO, Denise is a member of the Board of OFQUAL and of the NHS Pay Review Body as well as a Director of HSBC Bank plc, among many other interests. Her mother had Alzheimer's disease.
John Hughes
Ambassador
John Hughes has more than 30 years of global business experience, which includes holding senior executive positions at Thales Group, Lucent Technologies and Hewlett-Packard. John currently serves as Chairman of three FTSE listed companies.
Prof Robin Jacoby
Ambassador
Prof Jacoby recently retired as Professor Emeritus of Old Age Psychiatry at the University of Oxford. He is chairman of the Global Initiative on Psychiatry in countries of the former Soviet bloc.
Mike Kelly
Ambassador
Mike is Head of Corporate Social Responsibility at KPMG and leads its developing CSR programme across
Europe, Middle East and Africa. He was involved in the two year charity pairing of Alzheimer's with KPMG
which raised over £1m for the Society. He is a Trustee of The Passage - the largest day centre in Europe
supporting homeless people.
Ruth Langsford
Ambassador
As a television presenter, Ruth has presented programmes such as Loose Women, Langsford Late, Gardens of the Millennium and The Really Useful Show. Since 2000 she has been a guest presenter on ITV1's This Morning, and was made a regular presenter in 2006 and now presents every Friday with her partner Eamonn Holmes. Ruth's father has Alzheimer's disease.
Sally Lindsay
Ambassador
Actress Sally Lindsay, best known for her role as Shelley Unwin in ITV's Coronation Street, has actively campaigned for the Society in memory of her grandmother who had dementia.
Nicholas Mullings
Ambassador
Westminister-based jeweller Mr Mullings helped found and run the Society's Old Gold fundraising initiative which has raised £200,000.
Richard McCourt
Ambassador
Richard McCourt (Dick) is a television presenter and radio presenter best known as one half of BBC award-winning duo Dick and Dom. He is also the brother of television presenter James McCourt. As a DJ, Richard presents BBC Radio 1 shows and regularly hosts music gigs nationwide.
Barbara Pointon
Ambassador
Barbara Pointon and her husband Malcolm, allowed film-maker Paul Watson to film them after Malcom was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. The result was: Malcolm and Barbara - Love's Farewell. Mrs. Pointon was included in The Queen's Birthday Honours of June 2006 and was awarded the MBE for her campaigning work.
Fiona Phillips
Ambassador
Television presenter and Daily Mirror columnist, Fiona frequently speaks about her mother who had Alzheimer's disease to support other families caring for a relative with dementia.
Bill Reinking
Ambassador
American restauranteur, Mr Reinking hosts regular celebrity fundraising events for the Society.
Angela Rippon OBE
Ambassador
Broadcaster and journalist, Angela Rippon has supported Alzheimer's Society for a number of years and has spoken of her experiences caring for her mother Edna who was diagnosed with dementia in 2004. Angela was a BBC newsreader for five years and has worked in news and current affairs for over 40 years.
Heather Roberts
Ambassador
Living with Dementia (LWD) team member, Heather was an IT consultant then moved into teaching. She was forced to stop working two years ago. She's been participating in a dementia trial at University College Hospital looking at the early stages of dementia, tracking how the condition progresses.
Tony Robinson
Ambassador
Actor, presenter and writer Tony Robinson, best known for television's Blackadder and Time Team, filmed the final days of his mother's life in a powerfully moving documentary Me And My Mum. Both of his parents had dementia.
Robert Scott
Ambassador
Son of the modern artist William Scott, who died of dementia, the Scott family supports the Society's research programme through the William Scott estate.
Mike Tobin
Ambassador
Mike is CEO of the TelecityRedbus Group, the London Docklands-based European data centre network that provides the online lifeblood for over 2000 of the UK and Europe's largest brands.
Kevin Whately
Ambassador
Actor Kevin appeared in the Comic Relief drama, DAD, highlighting elder abuse. His many other credits include Auf Wiedersehen Pet, Peak Practice, Inspector Morse and most recently Lewis. Kevin's mother has Alzheimer's disease.
Bill Wilson
Ambassador
Living with Dementia (LWD) team member Bill is Coventry born and bred. He says he hasn't got Alzheimer's; it's got him. An ex Royal Marine, he also worked in the motor industry in Coventry when there was one and he spent many years coaching young people in athletics. Bill is in his late 50s and is active in the local Alzheimer's Society in Coventry and nationally with LWD.
Prof Bob Woods
Ambassador
Prof Woods has been practising clinical psychology working with older people for over 30 years. He is co-Director of the Dementia Services Development Centre Wales and a member of the Medical and Scientific Advisory Panels of Alzheimer's Europe and Alzheimer's Disease International.
