Colourful clothing was an essential part of the uniform at Mace’s Manchester office, when employees were asked to ‘Go Orange’ in aid of company’s charity of the year, Alzheimer’s Research UK – with their efforts helping to raise more than £13,000 for the cause.

To kick-start the year-long partnership, employees around the world, were asked to don the bright colour and make a donation to the UK’s leading dementia research charity as part of its #sharetheorange campaign. To challenge the misconceptions surrounding dementia, and the diseases that cause it, Alzheimer’s Research UK created a thought-provoking video to demonstrate that the condition is not a natural part of ageing. The animation brings home the message that dementia is caused by diseases that physically attack the brain, with a brain affected by Alzheimer’s weighing around 140g less than a healthy brain – about the weight of an orange.

Thanks to their efforts on the day, Mace employees raised more than £13,000 for the charity. This will be added to the £25,000 already donated by the Mace Foundation, which is being used to fund the charity’s Translating Dementia project. The project will see a range of the charity’s health information translated for communities whose first language may not be English.

This was the first of many initiatives planned for the next few months to raise much-needed funds for the charity. There are currently 850,000 people in the UK living with dementia, and this number is expected to increase to one million by 2025. To put an end to the devastation and heartache caused by dementia, Alzheimer’s Research UK is funding world-class research to help find a cure.

Steve Gillingham, Mace’s Director for the North, said:

“What a great way to launch our fundraising for Alzheimer’s Research UK! Orange is not a colour we see very often in the office, so we were pleased so many people got involved. We wanted to highlight the #sharetheorange campaign when we launched our partnership as a simple way of helping our employees understand how important this cause is. We’ve got lots planned for the year, including a skydive day and a running challenge, so we’re excited to see how much we can raise.”

Jade Rolph, Corporate Partnerships Account Manager, said:

“We were delighted to see so many employees at Mace take up the challenge and Go Orange for the day. We hope this has given everyone at Mace the encouragement to go out and fundraise for Alzheimer’s Research UK. Without the support of our corporate partners, we would not be able to fund world-class dementia research, so we would like to say a massive thank you to Mace for their ongoing support and we can’t wait to see what they get up to over the coming months.”