## **Trustees Annual Report for the Alzheimer’s Café UK CIO 1165335**
**for the duration of 1 April, 2025 - Mar 31, 2026**
## **[Abbreviations: AC = Alzheimer Café; ACUK = Alzheimer Café charity, CIO]**
## _**Reference and administrative details**_
_Answerphone: 07938 175002 Email: alzheimercafe@hotmail.co.uk Website: www.alzheimercafe.co.uk Principal office: 60 Church Ave., Farnborough, Hampshire, UK, GU14 7AP_
**Trustees** who served during this reporting period are: Hilary Dyce; Olive Fairbairn; Gemma Jones; Josh Cudworth.
## **What is an Alzheimer Café? Definition and purpose**
An AC is a monthly post-diagnostic, educational support intervention for people with dementia, their family and friends. They, and anyone else interested in dementia, can attend, free of charge, without prior registration. The AC is planned and hosted by trustees, a steering committee, dementia-related professionals, and volunteers.
An AC provides dementia-related education, support, information, and opportunities to socialize -for people with dementia, their family carers, and anyone else interested in dementia. An AC gathering is held in a safe, café-like setting and atmosphere.
## **The aims of the AC** aims are to:
**.** help prevent social isolation of people with dementia and their family/ friend carers
**.** make dementia ‘openly discussable’, through education and by including and acknowledging people with dementia
**.** reduce stigma about dementia by making it easier to talk about dementia – about having it, and being a carer
The AC is an economical ‘education and support intervention’. The venue, refreshments, education, insurance, and equipment require financing. The trustees, advisors, steering committee, and volunteers are not paid.
## **Structure, governance, and management**
The charity’s governing document is its Constitution. The ACUK converted to a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) in 2016 and requires a minimum of three trustees.
Recruitment and appointment of new trustees is through resolution passed at the AGM or trustees’ meetings. Trustees have regard for matching the candidates’ skills, knowledge, and experience to the current and foreseeable ACUK needs.
The trustees established the ‘Steering Committee’ (SC) comprising trustees and volunteers. The SC is responsible to the trustees for helping host the monthly AC sessions, and twice-yearly ‘social events’. Trustees are responsible for all AC-related planning.
## **Objectives of the ACUK Constitution**
The objectives of the Alzheimer Café UK CIO are twofold:
**∙** To relieve the needs and to promote the good health of people living with dementia, their families and carers in the three counties of Hampshire, Surrey and Berkshire and such other parts of the United Kingdom and the world through the provision of support groups and other activities, services, advice and information as the trustees may from time-to-time think fit;
**∙** To advance the education of the public about dementia and about care and support for people living with dementia, their families and carers.
## **Trustees manage the Farnborough AC, and the extended remit of the AC UK, by:**
**.** planning the annual programme of the Farnborough AC and promoting it
**.** maintaining and updating the AC UK website on behalf of all cafés following the ‘AC model’ in the UK
**.** helping new ACs to start; visiting and giving talks for existing ACs (especially for Camberley AC this year)
- **.** monitoring post, email, and phone - for requests for information about ACs
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- **.** holding ACUK Networking and conference events for AC leaders in the UK
- **.** commissioning and offering **dementia-related education** , which includes the following courses:
- a) 2-day course for leaders: “How to host an AC: for coordinators and interviewers”
- b) 1-day course for _volunteers_ : “What happens at an AC: how can you help?”
- c) 4-day course for _professional caregivers_ “Communication and care-giving in dementia: a positive vision”
- d) 4-day course for _family carers_ “Communication and care-giving in dementia: a positive vision”
- e) 1-day course for the public, anyone interested in dementia: “Lighting DARC (Dementia Awareness Reaching Committees)
Our education remit includes:
- **.** speaking about dementia to the press, radio, TV, and to schools, organizations, charities
- **.** visiting other ACs, charities, organisations, establishments, fundraising groups, to give talks about ACs
- **.** writing about ACs for publicity, conference presentations, journal articles, and translations of articles
- **.** sharing the mini-documentary made about the AC for the 25[th] anniversary (19 Sept. 2026)
- . helping other ACs with their dementia education; for AC guests, leaders, volunteers,
- **.** maintaining contacts with (AC founder) Dr. Bère Miesen, and with other ACs nationally and internationally (Ireland and Canada)
## **Education for volunteers at the Farnborough AC**
Volunteers are given the Volunteers Booklet and the book, ‘About Dementia: for families, for everyone”. They attend courses when there are sufficient numbers to offer them. These include:
- **.** Adult protection (safeguarding)
- **.** Risk assessment at Alzheimer Cafés
- **.** Food and Hygiene
- **.** First Aid
- **.** 1-day course about the dementia and the AC, for AC Volunteers
## **The Farnborough AC - Activities and achievements this past year**
The AC Farnborough hosts monthly gatherings for people with dementia, their families and carers, volunteers, professionals, and other persons with an interest. The Dementia-related talks and presentations are provided in a safe environment, with opportunities for the attendees to socialise, make contacts, learn, and ask questions of trustees and attending professionals. The presentations follow a set of annual themes, which broadly follow the dementia process.
The AC is popular with its attendees and guests, typically hosting between sixty to eighty people each month. Local GPs, dementia services, and AC guests are sign-posting newcomers to the AC; others have started attending after finding information on the ACUK website.
Volunteer numbers have increased the past year to over 20.- Many come through the local ‘Voluntary Action’ recruitment services. Courses for the latest group were held in April 2026.
ACUK Trustees helped the Chair of the Camberley AC retire in July 2025, and transition to having a new chair and trustees.
ACUK trustees continue to offer AC guests (free to them) transport, by renting a minivan from the local authorities.
ACUK trustees have held an outstanding celebration of the 25[th] anniversary of the ACUK, 19 Sept. 2025. (see our website)
## **Financial review**
Cash reserves are held for expenditures related to meeting the ACUK objectives. At the end of the relevant accounting period (for this fiscal year 1 April. 2025, to 31 March 2026) the charity held £38,881.16 in cash reserves. All funds received in this reporting interval were in the form of donations.
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|ACUK
Financial Summary|**01apr21 -**
**31mar22**|**01apr22 -**
**31mar 23**|**01apr23 -**
**31mar24**|**01apr24 -**
**31mar25**|**Current Year**
**01apr25 –**
**31mar26**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|**Assets startng year**|50,005.30|50,340.43|47,908.25|41,779.43|38,881.16|
|**Income**|2, 539.12|2,757.52|3,030.09|1,847.24|1,346.73|
|**Total Expenditure**|1,904.37|3,443.08|6,536.60|3,438.59|11,356.31|
|**Bank and cash**
**balance at year end**|50,340.43|47,908.25|41,779.43|38,881.16|29,055.38|
Although there were extra costs associated with the 25[th] ACUK Anniversary celebrations and publicity for the AC, expenditure for running the AC has remained relatively stable, as has attendance.
Activities relating to _supporting other ACs_ , and _providing dementia-related courses_ for family carers, professional caregivers, and AC volunteers have resumed. As seen above, under ‘balance at year end’, the ACUK is in a good financial position to continue all aspects of its functioning with sufficient reserve funds to operate for several years.
## **Trustees’ plans for the near to medium future**
Plans are to maintain the items described above, offer dementia courses for family carers and professional caregivers, and to resume fund-raising - now that the 25[th] AC anniversary celebrations are complete.
The trustees plan to:
**.** continue publicizing the AC locally, to support other ACs, and to promote dementia education – especially for family carers
**.** ensure continuity of the Farnborough AC – by having sufficient trustees, steering committee members, and volunteers
**.** evaluate and update ACUK practice as appropriate for any new Charity Commission Guidelines
## **Ongoing evaluation is part of the ACUK’s accountability**
Evaluations are used to maintain the quality of the café gatherings, and for planning and teaching purposes. There are several ways the AC is evaluated - namely by:
**.** direct **verbal** and written **feedback** to AC trustees and organisers from volunteers and guests attending an AC
**.** written responses are made after each session in the ‘ **AC Comments Book’**
**.** a monthly ‘ **AC Summary Evaluation Form’** recorded by AC organisers. This includes records of attendance, topics, speakers,
equipment, glitches, and surprises. [These summary notes help trustees complete the Quality Control Criteria form.] **. word-of-mouth accounts in the media** , i.e. AC guests expressing themselves in articles, verbal interviews for the radio, TV, and at talks and public events
**.** the Annual Self-evaluation using **the prescribed European AC Quality Control Criteria** (33 items, published on the ACUK website), completed by the trustees.
## **Statement on public benefit**
The trustees have had due regard for the Charity Commission’s public benefit guidance and have taken it into account regarding any decisions for which it has relevance.
## **Acknowledgements**
The trustees would like to thank the Steering Committee members and Volunteers for their contribution to the continued success of the Alzheimer Café. We also wish to express our appreciation here to our donors.
On behalf of the ACUK Trustees, Dr Gemma MM Jones (Chair) 20 May, 2026
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