What's in a name?

People often ask me what BRACE stands for. The answer always involves a brief history lesson and a realisation of just how far we have come in the last quarter of a century.

When the charity was founded 25 years ago, the founders decided to call it Bristol Research into Alzheimer’s and Care of the Elderly. This would have been a bit of a mouthful, so they wisely decided that it would be simpler to say “BRACE” for short.

A lot of charities and other organisations have acronyms and they have their uses. They also have their drawbacks, and growing out of them is one such example.

That’s a positive, of course. In the time we’ve been operating, we have come a long way and can no longer be defined just by our roots.

Bristol – yes, that’s where it all started, but we are now a regional charity. Our HQ is in South Gloucestershire and we are working with supporters around the West Country, from Devon to Wiltshire. We are also gathering supporters from elsewhere in the UK, from Liverpool to Brighton. We even had a sponsored runner in Australia this year, albeit one who hails originally from this region.

After all, the cause we are part of is global.

Research – no argument here. We only fund research. “Alzheimer’s”, however, has to be treated as synonymous with dementia, which is becoming the norm nowadays. Other dementia charities also tend to say “Alzheimer’s” when they actually deal with other forms of dementia as well. We currently support research into Lewy body dementia, vascular dementia and fronto-temporal dementia as well as Alzheimer’s disease.

The “Care of the Elderly” bit is mystifying unless you know the history. BRACE was originally formed to fund research in the Department of the Care of the Elderly at Bristol University. That department disappeared several years ago, but Bristol University has a formidable dementia research programme and is still the single biggest recipient of BRACE support.

However, the last five years have seen a significant expansion of research into the Universities of Bath, Cardiff and the West of England (UWE). The charity’s policy is to fund research only in the West Country and Cardiff, which is what gives BRACE its distinctive regional identity and has enabled it to help build up a strong research network in this area.

So there you have it, the full story behind our evolving name. BRACE, the dementia research charity – simple. Now go and tell your friends all about us!