Terry Pratchett Novel Raises Money For Alzheimer's Charity

A novel signed by best-selling Fantasy writer Terry Pratchett has raised money for a local branch of the Alzheimer’s Society in the UK.

The book was auctioned at the Woodside Lodge residential home in Bransgore, where it raised £760 for the New Forest branch of the Alzheimer’s Society.

“Woodside Lodge are great supporters of the branch and have raised more than £1,200 for us this year,” said David High, manager of the New Forest branch of the society. “We will be using the money to help set up new art and music groups and to fund a fourth outreach worker.”

Terry Pratchett – whose DiscWorld novels have been best-sellers around the world – was diagnosed with a rare form of Alzheimer’s disease in December, 2007. He made a donation of $1 million to the Alzheimer's Research UK in March, 2008.

“I am, along with many others, scrabbling to stay ahead long enough to be there when the cure comes along,” said Pratchett. “It is a shock to find out that funding for Alzheimer’s research is just 3% of that to find cancer cures.”

The author has appeared on television and radio to discuss his diagnosis, and is currently working on a documentary series with the BBC that will follow him as he copes with his illness.

“I met Terry at a conference and was delighted when he agreed to sign one of his books, Making Money,” said Woodside manager Natasha Ketchen. “He’s an excellent ambassador for the society and is trying to remove the stigma faced by people with dementia.”

Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia, with around 700,000 sufferers in Britain. Although there is no known cure, several organizations provide support. The Alzheimer’s Research Trust is the UK’s leading research charity for dementia, dedicated to funding scientific studies to treat, cure, or prevent Alzheimer’s disease, vascular dementia, Lewy Body disease, and fronto-temporal dementia. They rely completely on donations to fund their research.