ANGELA Rippon has thanked Skipton Building Society for its 'amazing fund-raising activities' in support of Alzheimer’s Society and Alzheimer Scotland.

The much-loved television and radio presenter was guest of honour at the building society's 'Forget Me Not Ball', held at The Queen’s in Leeds, which raised £50,000 to support the battle against dementia.

The ball, which featured a live auction, silent auction, prize draw, glitter artists and magicians, was supported by more than 300 guests who dug deep in their pockets to help raise much-needed funds.

It was the latest in a series of fund-raisers by the society since it teamed up to become the official charity partner of Alzheimer’s Society and Alzheimer Scotland almost three years ago.

The society hopes to reach its target of raising £250,000 by the end of the year.

Ms Rippon, CBE, an Alzheimer’s Society Ambassador, said:

“I would like to thank the Skipton Building Society for all the amazing fund-raising activities they are organising, including the wonderful Forget Me Not Ball that I recently attended, to raise much needed funds to support the growing numbers of people being diagnosed with dementia. I would also like to thank them for their continued commitment to the Dementia Friends programme and contributions to building a more dementia friendly society.

“Dementia devastates people’s lives – not just for those with a diagnosis, but also their families and friends – but Alzheimer’s Society is working incredibly hard to support everyone affected through providing services, campaigning for change in social care and funding research into care and to find a cure.

“The money that Skipton Building Society is raising contributes to this work by supporting PHD students at Bradford Doctoral Training Centre, who are researching the impact of transitions in dementia care. These projects will make a real difference to the lives of people living with dementia now and in the future.”

Abi Davidson, Alzheimer’s Society Senior Corporate Partnerships Executive, said:

“We are so grateful for all the hard work that Skipton colleagues put in to making this event such a huge success. I had the pleasure of working with the Forget Me Not Ball team at Skipton helping on the lead up to the event and on the night. The commitment and passion shown by colleagues was amazing to see and is the reason the event was so successful.

“Money raised from this event will support the funding of dementia care research at the Bradford Doctoral training Centre where students are looking at ways to reduce the impact of care transitions for people living with dementia. Thanks to amazing partners like Skipton we can continue to fund important research topics like this.”