The Alzheimer’s Society achieved a record income of £116m last year, boosted by a sharp rise in legacy giving.
The charity raised £116.5m in the year ending in March 2022, up about 5 per cent compared with 2020/21.
The value of legacies left to the charity rose by almost £11m, from £27.8m to £38.7m.
The figures are included in Alzheimer’s Society’s latest accounts, which were published with Companies House overnight.
They show that the charity spent £91.9m, a 6 per cent increase on the previous year.
This left the charity with an annual surplus of £26.7m. The accounts say that this surplus has been used to increase the size of its reserves, with some of the cash earmarked for spending on the Alzheimer’s Society’s new strategy over the next five years.
Free reserves now stand at £59.8m, compared with £42.7m the year before.
The accounts also show that the Alzheimer’s Society reported serious incidents to the Charity Commission six times during 2021/22 related to fraud, use of data and safeguarding concerns.
The charity has undertaken internal investigation into these matters “where necessary” and the commission has not taken any regulatory action as a result of these incidents, the report says.
The report describes safeguarding work as “a key trustee responsibility”.
The accounts said that the impact of Covid-19 on people living with dementia was “clear and visceral”.
It added: “We realised the uncertainty of the pandemic could act as a springboard for building back better than ever before – bringing rapid acceleration of the kind of care and policy change people living with dementia truly need.”
The number of people volunteering for Alzheimer’s Society fell slightly during the year, partly as a result of the charity shifting to more digital services, the accounts say.