ON behalf of the York branch, I would like to thank all our supporters and volunteers who gave so unstintingly of their time over the past year to enable the Alzheimer's Society to give support to all those with dementia and their carers in the York area.

We owe a tremendous debt to all our volunteers, who work as befrienders, fundraisers, collectors or in our office.

In particular, I would like to thank the previous Lord Mayor, Peter Vaughan, who chose the branch as his charity from 1999 to 2000 raising £6,473 and Ian Teasdale who raised £3,000 for us in the London Marathon.

As always, we are very grateful to the public who contributed to three collections in the city centre and Acomb and raised a massive £3,600 during 2000, £1,074 in April, £1,329 in July and £1,197 in November.

I would again like to thank the Evening Press for the coverage they gave for our Awareness Week.

Ken Metcalfe,

Chairman, York branch of Alzheimer's Society,

The Retreat, York.

Updated: 11:01 Tuesday, January 16, 2001