Bessie Makatini Foundation: 2025 Disruption Award Winner
Raising Dementia Awareness in the Community
This blog is the first in our three-part series spotlighting the winners of the 2025 Disruption Awards – our flagship programme to find and fund bold ideas that can change the future of dementia.
Spotlight: The Bessie Makatini Foundation
The Bessie Makatini Foundation (BMF) was founded by Zethu Makatini, a Family and Systemic Psychotherapist, in response to the deep gaps in dementia awareness, diagnosis, and support across South African communities – particularly in rural and underrepresented areas.
Drawing on her professional experience in the UK healthcare system and her personal encounters with dementia in South Africa, Zethu saw a painful truth: dementia was too often misunderstood, hidden, or misdiagnosed. Families were struggling in silence – without access to accurate information, support services, or culturally sensitive care.
Zethu founded BMF to change that narrative. Named after her mother, whose own journey with dementia became the catalyst for this mission, the organisation is rooted in compassion and the belief that every person deserves dignity, understanding, and support – wherever they live.
Zethu Makatini
“When my mother was diagnosed, I realised how little support was available for families like ours. Dementia was something people feared, hid, or misinterpreted. I wanted to create a space where communities could face dementia with knowledge, compassion, and hope.”
Why This Project Matters
In many South African communities, dementia is seen as a normal part of ageing – or linked to harmful myths. This leads to delayed diagnosis, isolation, and even abuse. BMF is tackling this head-on by:
Raising awareness – delivering campaigns in isiZulu and English to reduce stigma
Building capacity – training local care workers and health workers to spot dementia early
Strengthening networks – linking families to medical, social, and legal support
Creating safe spaces – where people with dementia and their carers can meet, share, and access resources
What Makes It Disruptive
BMF is reimagining what dementia support looks like at community level. They are:
Empowering local champions – training not just professionals but ordinary community members to lead awareness and support
Integrating traditional structures – church groups, stokvels, and local leaders become part of the dementia care network
Using storytelling and lived experience – breaking stigma faster than clinical messaging alone
This is grassroots change with global implications – a model that could inspire UK and international practice by showing how culturally relevant, community-led solutions can transform dementia support.
“The Board felt this project was exactly what the Disruption Awards were designed for – bold, compassionate, and rooted in community action. The Bessie Makatini Foundation isn’t just raising awareness; it is shifting mindsets, empowering local champions, and building a model of dementia support that can outlast any single intervention. This is disruption with heart – the kind of change that transforms lives now and sets the stage for a better future.”
Dylan Harper
About the Disruption Awards
The Dementia Trust created the Disruption Awards to back projects that do more than make small improvements – we look for ideas that shake things up. Our focus is on:
Fresh perspectives on everyday challenges of dementia
Co-creation with people who live the experience
Reaching overlooked communities who too often miss out
Sharing learning openly so good ideas travel fast
This year, we received 22 applications requesting over £400,000 in funding – more than eight times what we could award. Our Disruption Awards Panel, which included Professor Eddie Duncan, Dr Peter Murdoch, and our Advisor Sonia Mangan, carefully reviewed every submission on behalf of the Board.
“This year’s winners are more than great ideas — they are sparks of change. Each one has the potential to shift how we see dementia and how we support those living with it.”
— Prof Eddie Duncan, Vice Chair, The Dementia Trust
Get Involved
The Disruption Awards are funded entirely through the generosity of our supporters. If you believe in backing bold ideas for dementia, here’s how you can help:
🔗 Read about all our winners: dementiatrust.org/disruption-awards/past-awards
💌 Sign up for updates: Hear how these projects progress and learn from their impact
💙 Donate or become a Friend: Help us fund even more breakthrough projects next year
And keep an eye out for our next two blogs, where we’ll be spotlighting Chichester Festival Theatre and Queen’s University Belfast & Dementia NI — two equally inspiring projects that are pushing boundaries in the dementia space.
