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UCL Dementia Research Retail Partnership nominated for Most Innovative Fundraising Campaign 2017

1 December 2016

The UCL Dementia Research Retail Partnership was shortlisted as the Most Innovative Fundraising Campaign at the 2017 Institute of Fundraising, National Fundraising Awards alongside Cancer Research UK, Muscular Dystrophy UK, and Durham Cathedral. 

The National Fundraising Awards, now in their 26th year, celebrate the work of some of the best fundraisers, organisations and partners working to support good causes. The winner was announced at a glitzy awards ceremony held at The Troxy, London on the 29th November. Durham Cathedral triumphed for their Durham Cathedral in LEGO campaign.

Thea Sherer, Corporate Partnerships Manager at UCL said, “We are delighted to have been nominated for this award alongside three fantastic charities. We are very proud of what the retail partnership has achieved. UCL is the first university to be an official Charity of the Year when it was made Charity Partner for Iceland for 2015-16 and with the support of Iceland and our partners, we raised £10 million in the first year. Our innovative and novel way of fundraising continues to increase awareness of the fantastic work which UCL is doing in the field of dementia research.”

The UCL Dementia Research Retail partnership, inspired by Malcolm Walker, founder and CEO of Iceland Foods, was created in October 2015 as a result of the introduction of the UK Government’s 5p bag levy. Nine leading UK retailers pledged to support UCL Dementia Research through the bag levy with the aim of creating a leading Dementia Research Institute in Queen Square, UCL’s current neuroscience hub. 

Dementia is currently the leading cause of death in England and Wales and affects 850,000 million people in the UK. It costs the UK economy £26 billion each year, however dementia research gets 13 times less funding than research into cancers. With the number of people affected expected to rise to 1 million and the costs to the UK economy to exceed £32.5 billion by 2025, the dementia research conducted by UCL’s researchers is more critical than ever.

In addition to the partnership being nominated for this award, it was also recognised in the prestigious Platinum category of the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) Circle of Excellent Awards for Best Practices in Fundraising in August. CASE is a professional association for educational institutions and supports its members in achieving their missions, and to meet individual and societal goals. 

It was a particularly successful conference for UCL, and OVPD with two members of team receiving accolades in recognition of their hard work. Jennie Moule, Director of Strategy and Operations, was presented with the CASE Crystal Apple Teaching Award in recognition of her outstanding performance at 10 or more CASE international educational programs. In addition to Jennie’s award, Emily Wheeler, Senior Philanthropy Manager and a former member of the CASE Graduate Scheme, was awarded the 2016 Iain Moore Rising Star Award. 

Lori Houlihan, Vice Provost Development, said, “As a team, we have had a really successful year. In September we launched our £600 million philanthropic fundraising campaign, of which dementia research is a core aim and the retail partnership plays an important role in raising awareness of UCL’s work. I am delighted that our hard work and our fantastic team members have been recognised by the Institute of Fundraising and at the CASE conference.”