Alzheimer’s Society has increased its income by £9.4m from £61.6m to £71m – a 15.25 per cent rise.

The figure, revealed in the charity's accounts for the year ending March 2012, is the first time the charity’s income has exceeded £70m.

It continues an upward curve in Alzheimer’s Society's income: £41.3m, £45.5m, £51.7m and £58.9m from 2007 through to 2010 represented the increases of 10.16 per cent, 13.62 per cent, 13.92 per cent and 4.58 per cent respectively – making this also the largest escalation in years.

Voluntary income, consisting of donations and legacies, amounted to £41.1m, up from £32.1m in 2011. Total funds at 31 March 2012 were £29.1m (£28m in 2011), of which £22.2m were unrestricted.

The income boost allowed Alzheimer’s Society to increase its charitable expenditure by 9 per cent, and the Society’s reserves also increased by £1.1m.

The charity funded £3.1m of research grants towards new research into the cause, cure, care and prevention of dementia in 2011/12, and 88 pence in every pound of total expenditure went towards its charitable objective of improving the lives of people with dementia – up from 87 pence the previous year.

2012/13 is the first year of the Society’s new five-year strategy, which is built around four strategic aims: demonstrate the way in dementia care and support; be the foremost point of contact for anyone dealing with dementia; lead partnerships and investments in research to improve care, advance prevention and move closer to a cure; and campaign for people affected by dementia to be able to live the lives they want.

In August the charity announced that that it was shutting its third and final charity shop, citing its retail chain as being “not economically viable”.