Our Purpose
As we age, many of us will develop neurodegenerative conditions which cause problems with memory, thinking and planning. These conditions, such as Alzheimer’s disease, greatly impact on the quality of our day-to-day life and that of our loved ones.
The purpose of RICE is to lead on essential research and services to improve the brain health of people impacted by dementia and other related conditions. In the past, our charity’s focus has mainly been on dementia. More recently we are also researching other conditions such as Parkinson’s disease, and poor muscle and bone health.
RICE’s vision is a world where people affected by dementia and other related conditions have a range of effective treatment options available to them, made possible by our world-class research, services and support.
Explore the impact of our charity and how donations are spent.
Our History
RICE established one of the first memory clinic services in the UK in 1987 – a service which has since been widely replicated and is now considered standard and best practice by the NHS. In fact, our charity now runs the NHS Memory Clinic in Bath and North East Somerset through a subcontract. Although the charity manages this NHS service, we rely on your generous donations to make it the best it can be, as well as offer our fundraised support services and research.
To date, we’ve assessed, diagnosed, treated and advised 12,000 people with memory problems and their families in our memory clinic.
Most of RICE’s services and research activities take place in our own purpose-built, specialist centre located on the Royal United Hospital site. Construction of the RICE Centre was possible as a result of generous donations from major donors, trusts and foundations, and members of the public. RICE moved into the ground and first floor of the centre in 2008.
Following the success of the ‘DementiaPlus Appeal’ and further thoughtful donations, RICE converted the attic floor in 2019 to create more office space. This has given us access to much needed additional rooms and offices which will enable us to grow and run more services and activities. We’ve worked hard to ensure that the areas of the centre visited by our patients meets their needs and we regularly receive feedback on how much our patients enjoy their visit to our centre.
Our centre is specifically designed to be a low stimulus space for patients to visit. Our longer than average appointments ensure that people have the time to be heard and process what is happening.
In 2021 we had our first comprehensive inspection since registering with the Care Quality Commission. We were delighted to be rated as Outstanding overall. The inspector said that RICE delivers “an exceptional, innovative service”.
They were impressed that our patients were treated as experts in their own condition and were offered a rounded service of diagnosis, care and information, and research opportunities all under one roof.
Our Structure
RICE is a registered charity in England and Wales (1042559) and a registered company limited by guarantee (2979617). We’re governed as defined by our Articles of Association which were agreed on 17 October 1994 and amended on 23 December 2015 and 9 November 2017. Our trustees are the members of the charity.
Patron: Lady Pratchett
President: Professor Roy Jones
Vice Presidents: Dr Bruno-Kasteliz, Sir Tony Robinson, Professor Gordon Wilcock, Hon John Joliffe