Dementia Foundation Partnership

A donation of 1,000 AA batteries has led to a practical partnership supporting The Dementia Foundation’s 12,000 km Drive4Dementia Big Lap, launching from Perth on 16 August.

MI Battery Engineering is supporting The Dementia Foundation as it prepares for the Drive4Dementia Big Lap, a 13-day journey through regional and rural Australia raising awareness of young onset dementia.

The partnership began earlier this year when we had thousands of AA batteries that had passed their commercial use-by date. Rather than allowing useful stock to end up in landfill, we offered the batteries as a donation to local charities and not-for-profits. The Dementia Foundation collected 1,000 batteries from our WA warehouse.

That donation opened the door to a broader collaboration. The Dementia Foundation later invited us to support Drive4Dementia. We have supplied a Motormate BC-01240SCT 12V 40A automatic battery charger for the drive vehicles and are proud to be an official event sponsor. 

“The batteries were still in perfectly good condition, so rather than seeing them go to waste, we wanted to find organisations where they could genuinely make a difference. So, once The Dementia Foundation told us about their amazing Drive 4 Dementia initiative and the distances the team would be covering, providing a charger like this was a simple and practical way for us to support such a great cause.”
Joel Douglas, BDM, MI Battery Engineering

Supporting the road ahead
Drive4Dementia will leave Perth on 16 August 2026 and cover around 12,000 km over 13 days. The route will travel through the Gascoyne, Pilbara and Kimberley, across the Northern Territory and Red Centre, and into South Australia before returning home.

For the crew, the journey is about more than kilometres. It will take the conversation about young onset dementia into communities where access to specialist services, information and support can be limited.

Young onset dementia affects an estimated 30,000 Australians under the age of 65. It can affect people who are still working, raising families and living independently. The Dementia Foundation provides specialist care, practical guidance, advocacy and community support for people living with the condition and those close to them.

“Drive4Dementia is an opportunity to meet people where they are and to make sure young onset dementia is part of the conversation in communities across the state. Support from MI Battery Engineering helps us prepare for the practical demands of the journey and keep the focus on the people we are driving for.”
Brett Parker, Co-founder & Chair, The Dementia Foundation

The Motormate BC-01240SCT we supplied is an automatic 12V 40A battery charger designed for lead-acid batteries. It includes overcharge, overload and short-circuit protection, helping support vehicle battery maintenance across the route.

We are pleased to support The Dementia Foundation and the Drive4Dementia team as they prepare to take this important message to communities across the route.
To learn more about the drive, follow the journey or make a donation, visit www.drive4dementia.com.au.

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