MEDIA RELEASE COMMUNIQUE AUX MEDIAS MEDIENMITTEILUNG
Alzheimer Europe elects Board of directors and publishes 2023 Annual and Financial Report during Annual Meeting
21 June 2024, Luxembourg - Alzheimer Europe is pleased to announce its new Board of directors and to present its 2023 Annual and Financial Report. These are just two of the important outcomes from the organisation's Annual General Meeting (AGM), which took place this week in Luxembourg. At the AGM, held on 18 June 2024, 32 full members out of 36 were present or represented, ensuring the meeting had quorum. A number of Alzheimer Europe's provisional members were also in attendance, as were the staff members and Executive Director of the organisation, together with various other guest observers.
Chairperson Rosário Zincke dos Reis (Portugal) moderated the meeting and the agenda included an in-depth review of the 2023-2024 activities and projects of Alzheimer Europe, as well as the finances of the organisation. As has been the case since the beginning of 2022, our core activities in 2023 were funded by an operating grant awarded by the European Commission's Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values (CERV) programme, ensuring we can continue providing a voice to people with dementia and their carers, making dementia a European priority, changing perceptions and combating stigma, raising awareness of brain health and prevention, strengthening the European dementia movement, and supporting dementia research.
AGM delegates reviewed and unanimously adopted Alzheimer Europe's 2023 Annual and Financial Report and the report is now available on our website, as a PDF publication. Printed copies will available at our Annual Conference in Geneva in October. Read our 2023 Annual and Financial Report, here: https://bit.ly/AE2023AnnualReport
The AGM also discussed and voted on a number of other matters related to membership fees and decisions, the appointment of auditors, Alzheimer Europe's statutes, rules and regulations, and our 2025 Work Plan and Budget, which was unanimously adopted.
On the agenda, too, were the elections for the Board of directors. Following these elections, the Board remains largely unchanged, with one big difference: Charles Scerri (Malta), who has served on the Board for 16 years, announced that he was stepping down from his position as Vice-Chairperson. Jean Georges, Executive Director, thanked Charles on behalf of Alzheimer Europe and its Board, for his vital contributions to the organisation over the years and for his friendship. He will be truly missed by us all!
Following Charles Scerri's departure, Mario Possenti (Italy) who was the Honorary Secretary from 2022 to 2024, has been voted in as the new Vice-Chairperson of the organisation. Lorène Gilly (France), a member of the Board since 2022, replaces him in the role of Honorary Secretary.
The new Board of Alzheimer Europe:
Office bearers
Chairperson: Rosário Zincke dos Reis (Portugal)
Vice-Chairperson: Mario Possenti (Italy)
Honorary Secretary: Lorène Gilly (France)
Honorary Treasurer: Marco Blom (Netherlands)
Members
Stefanie Becker (Switzerland)
René Friederici (Luxembourg)
Andy Heffernan (Ireland)
Martina Mátlová (Czech Republic)
Mary-Frances Morris (Scotland, United Kingdom)
Katariina Suomu (Finland)
Jochen René Thyrian (Germany)
Congratulations to all of them!
The new terms of office of the European Working Group of People with Dementia (EWGPWD) and of the European Dementia Carers Working Group) have begun following the 2024 AGM, and the members, chairpersons and vice-chairpersons of both groups will be announced in the coming weeks. Both the chairperson of the EWGPWD and chairperson of the EDCWG will become ex-officio members of the Alzheimer Europe Board, with full voting rights.
Chris Roberts (Wales, United Kingdom), current Chairperson of the EWGPWD and Sonata Mačiulskytė (Lithuania), current Chairperson of the EDCWG each gave a speech at the AGM, sharing the excellent work of their respective working groups over the past year and thanking Alzheimer Europe for its support and its commitment to ensuring the voices of people with dementia and carers are heard at the European level. Chris Roberts informed delegates that this would be his last AGM as Chairperson of the EWGPWD, as he is stepping down from his position, after eight year in the group and four years as Chairperson. He will be sorely missed and we wish him and his wife and supporter Jayne Goodrick all the very best for the future.
A big thank you to our national member associations for attending our 2024 AGM in Luxembourg, for having such great discussions and for using their votes, thus helping to shape the future of our organisation and ensure our important collaborative work continues.
For further information, contact: Jean Georges, Executive Director, Alzheimer Europe, 5B, Heienhaff; L-1736 Senningerberg.
