The Defying Dementia Student Society at Lancaster University is a passionate student-led group dedicated to supporting the University’s fundraising and awareness efforts. Determined to make a difference in the fight against dementia, the society has been channelling its energy into a series of creative and inspiring activities, all in support of groundbreaking research at Lancaster University. From collaborating with other societies to running social events, their commitment and enthusiasm have helped generate both funds and support.

One of the society’s Christmas events saw students, staff and members of the community dressed in red suits and jingling all the way around campus as part of the Defying Dementia Student Society Annual Santa Dash, raising over £900 for Defying Dementia.

The event is organised in collaboration with the Lancaster University Athletics and Running Club, with some of the Sports Centre staff helping to marshal the event and warm the crowd up, and last December over 200 runners gathered at the Lancaster University Sports Centre before setting off on their festive dash around the campus.

The Santa Dash included a wonderful mix of runners, with people and families from the local community joining staff and students, with more people from the community coming along to support the runners. The youngest runner was seven years old, and the team also arranged prizes for the best dressed people. There were children who were dressed as angels, elves and in other fun Christmas costumes, who were given exciting gift bags for their efforts, making the day a very fun event for all involved. With over 200 tickets sold online and more sold on the day, it was fantastic to see the community come together to support Defying Dementia at Lancaster University.

As well as raising vital funding and providing a fun event for people of all ages to be involved in, the society were able to recruit new members, which will further enhance their abilities to provide engaging awareness and fundraising opportunities, which include diversifying plans to include a summer run in addition to the Santa Dash. The event also provided the perfect opportunity for the society’s newly appointed executive committee members to meet in person and dive into the action.

The Santa Dash is part of a range of activities run by the Defying Dementia Student Society, with other fund and awareness raising activities including jewellery making workshops, social events and more recently, a Valentines Roses Sale raising over £500! An upcoming event which the society have organised in collaboration with the Lancaster Psychiatry Society is the Neurodegeneration Showcase, which will feature short presentations of leading research about neurodegeneration.

This year’s President is Maria Heywood, who learnt about the society at the Students’ Union Fresher’s Fair. As a psychology student and someone who has personal experience of the effects of dementia on others, being a part of the society felt like an incredibly meaningful opportunity and finds it very rewarding to be involved.

Here, Maria reflects on the on the impact of the Santa Dash: “We were lucky enough to organise our most successful ever Santa Dash recently, raising over £900 for Defying Dementia and involving hundreds of people. We want to give a massive thank you to everyone who was able to donate and get involved in both this run and the campaign as a whole. It's so exciting to be a part of a group that makes such an inspiring difference.”

The Defying Dementia Student Society's work has been nothing short of inspirational, with each event and initiative contributing to the incredible work being done by our Defying Dementia researchers. We’re proud of the students' dedication and the impact they have had, and we look forward to seeing more of their creative fundraising efforts in the future. A huge thank you to everyone involved with the society and its activities for their ongoing support of this vital cause.