The charity was set up in 2016 by 3-time Formula 1 World Champion Sir Jackie Stewart following the diagnosis of his wife Lady Helen Stewart with the disease and sees Ignition join the likes of Red Bull Racing, McLaren and Dyson as Race Against Dementia (RAD) look to inject an “F1 Attitude” and innovate a breakthrough in dementia research.
At the time Sir Jackie Stewart said “In my world of motorsport I have seen extraordinarily creative systems introduced, as well as incredible work to prevent the fatalities that the sport once endured. I have no doubt that finding a cure for dementia is one of the biggest challenges we’ve ever faced. But my vision is that by thinking out of the box and finding new ways to achieve success. We will find a solution to allow millions of people to live without dementia.”
Ignition, who use the lessons from High-Performance Motorsport to Unlock People Performance in business, co-founder Nick Butcher is excited to work with the charity and explains more
“It’s shocking to see that around 850,000 people in the UK alone are currently suffering from Dementia right now, with 1 in 3 people born today expected to develop it within their lifetime.
Whilst we can’t proclaim that Ignition is going to find the cure, as that isn’t our area of expertise, we can do our bit and support the RAD Research Fellows who can! We will look at how they work together and use the lessons from Formula 1 to become a High-Performance team and develop their own leadership styles.
As a fellow dyslexic, I have a huge respect for the work Sir Jackie Stewart has done over the years to innovate and make dyslexia more manageable day to day. Now this is completely different challenge, but you know when he puts his mind to something, like with his campaigns and endless work for safety within motorsport, change is going to happen, and it's now time for us to play our part and help make these horrible diseases a thing of the past.”
RAD CEO Dr Penny Moyle is also looking forward to what the sessions can bring the charity in both the short and long term
“This is an exciting time for RAD, as we have just opened up our applications to take on more research fellows with Alzheimer’s Research UK and have also recently agreed a partnership with Dementia Australia Research Foundation.
Teamwork is a hallmark of Formula 1 racing, and something we want to emulate in dementia research. Each of the RAD Fellows is based in a different university around the world, where they work with their ‘home team’ on different aspects of the dementia puzzle. Additionally, we are bringing them together as a virtual RAD team, with the shared objective of accelerating progress in dementia research. I have no doubt that by bringing in Ignition,they will help support this objective, training our fellows in team skills that can be applied to all the teams they work in and lead.”
This isn’t the first time Ignition have worked with a “World Champion” cause, as they continue to work with 1996 World Champion Damon Hill’s charity, the halow project as part of their #DisabilityWorks campaign and providing leadership and teamwork training to their management team.
“We continue to enjoy a great relationship with halow, which has gone from strength to strength over the years”
Nick continues “we take huge pride in working with such widely known and historic names in motorsport and value the trust they instil in us to provide a service to help develop the most important aspect of the charities – their people!”
This is the second of four exciting announcements for Ignition in July and August, the first being their renewed commitment to supporting young talent in motorsport as their partnership with British F3 Driver Louis Foster enters its second season. To find out what the other announcements will be you can follow Ignition on Twitter and Instagram @IgnitionPerform or visit their website www.ignitionperformance.com
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To find out more about Race Against Dementia and how you can help please watch this video.
About Race Against Dementia:
The Race Against Dementia Fellowship Programme was launched in October 2018, and you can find out more about the RAD Fellows here: https://www.raceagainstdementia.com/about-us/fellowship/our-fellows/
In the Memories series, Race Against Dementia brings you interviews with Sir Jackie and his illustrious friends sharing their memories. Memories: Help us to protect yours.
https://www.raceagainstdementia.com/memories/
For latest updates follow us on Twitter @racingdementia
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