We've popped the question

Valentine’s Day 2012 was a very special opportunity for people living with dementia to get their message across to our political leaders. It was yet another turning point for Alzheimer’s Australia in the Fight Dementia Campaign.

Thousands of Valentine Day cards arrived on the doorsteps of our political leaders. Our supporters sent in their messages of support with the cards, popping the question: what would you do if your loved one couldn’t remember you?

Cards were sent to the Prime Minister, Minister Swan, Senator Wong, Mr Abbott, Mr Robb and Mr Hockey, urging them to invest $500 million over five years for dementia awareness, early diagnosis, care and support, risk reduction and investment in research in the 2012 Federal Budget.  

None of this would have been possible but for the wonderful partnerships Alzheimer’s Australia has with other organisations. Thank you to all the organisations who joined the fight, including The Australian Nursing Federation, Carers Australia, Dial an Angel, Uniting Care, Bupa and Hammond Care. With your support, and the support of the wider community, we managed to bombard our politicians with cards in time for Valentine’s Day.  

And we have been so fortunate in having pro bono assistance from Porter Novelli in developing the concept of Valentine day cards and use of the social media.  

The day was further proof that the new brand works really well in getting the fight dementia message across to the wider community.  

It was a wonderful opportunity for CEOs of Alzheimer’s organisations to hit the street with their staff in popular locations around the country. Our aim was to encourage the wider community to join the fight by filling out a card.  

The day was a success! We collected a further 2000 cards, which were sent to Parliament House that afternoon. We also encouraged visitors to our website, with February 14 seeing the third highest number of visitors in one day this year. Our TweetReach for @AlzheimersAus was 88,873 people via 226 tweets and in the week leading up to the big day our activity on Facebook reached almost 300,000 people.  

Each of our political leader’s offices has confirmed receipt of the cards and are now working out how to respond to our campaigners. And, on Valentine’s Day Tony Abbott posted on twitter his thanks for the many cards he received. To keep up to date, follow us on twitter @AlzheimersAus.  

For photos of the day go to the Fight Dementia Facebook page: www.facebook.com/fightdementia

To show your support of the campaign, sign up as a dementia champion: www.campaign.fightdementia.org.au