Sir Michael Parkinson, Tony Robinson and Sir Terry Pratchett are among the celebrities joining party leaders Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Nick Clegg in launching the Alzheimer’s Research Trust campaign, Memories Matter.
Members of the public are invited to share their unforgettable moments, good, bad or otherwise, at the Alzheimer’s Research Trust website memories-matter.org or on Twitter using the #memoriesmatter tag.
Memories from the public will be placed on the Alzheimer’s Research Trust’s Memory Wall, which will tour the country from September.
The Alzheimer’s Research Trust’s major new campaign draws attention to the memory loss experienced by the 700,000 people in the UK who live with Alzheimer’s and other dementias, and how we could halt this: through research into new treatments, preventions and cures.
Sir Terry Pratchett, Patron of the Alzheimer’s Research Trust who lives with a rare form of Alzheimer’s disease, Posterior Cortical Atrophy, led the campaign by saying:
"Deep down I know that one day my memories will go. The day my daughter was born. It was a dark and stormy night when she was in intensive care, but kind of OK. It was a long delivery. I thought that some celebration was in order.
"I found a piece of stewing steak in the fridge. It was the best damn steak I’d ever had. I cooked it with lots of onions. It was very tough, but it tasted absolutely beautiful. I went off into the driveway and I fell flat on my face.
"I didn’t hurt myself. And the elation I mean, nothing could’ve gone wrong that night. I think I’d hate to lose that memory.
The Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who met Sir Terry in November 2008 to discuss dementia research funding, recalled less stressful times:
"I thought I would write about a happy memory from almost 27 years ago, before I became a Member of Parliament. I have seen it repeated on television many times since, but nothing can replace my memory of being there and experiencing it myself.
"I was in the Spanish town of Seville in 1982, at my first World Cup Finals, to watch Scotland play Brazil. There were almost 50,000 people in the ground, and the atmosphere was terrific, with the Brazilian fans keeping up the constant samba beat on their drums.
"As always, Brazil were one of the tournament favourites, so no-one gave Scotland any kind of chance. But in the 18th minute, the Scotland defender David Narey crashed the ball into the top corner from outside the box to give us a 1-0 lead. We went wild, and for the next 15 minutes, we dared to dream that we could beat the famous Brazil.
"Sure enough, they equalised and went on to win 4-1. But that night in Seville remains one of the most memorable in my life."
The Leader of the Opposition, David Cameron and said:
"Travelling this way was the traditional way of getting to the glacier I was going to see. I had to hitch the teams of huskies up to the sleigh myself, which was almost the most testing part.
"The key tip I was given was never, ever take your foot off the ice break: if you do, you don’t see your means of transport for some miles.
"But it also gave me an unforgettable moment it’s a beautiful and exciting way to travel, through simply incredible and dramatic scenery. The photo also shows the power of pictures to make a point in this case the urgent need to tackle climate change, and the priority that I wanted the modern Conservative Party to give to the issue."
Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg added:
"It may sound clichéd, but inarguably one of the most unforgettable moments of my life was the birth of my first child. Seeing the miracle of life at first hand and for the first time was humbling and utterly life changing."
Sir Michael Parkinson said:
"One of my earliest memories is the smell of a coal mine. It was across the fields where my father worked. I thought I’d end up there but I didn’t, thank God."
Tony Robinson, whose mother had dementia, contributed:
"I've always wanted a big tree. We acquired a place in Spain, and I bought a Washingtonia Palm Tree, but it was too big to go through the front gates. So we hired an enormous crane, and it lifted the tree high in the air and down into a hole we'd dug for it.
"We had already named it George before we knew it was a Washingtonia. He's still alive and thriving and sometimes we sing to him."
Tony Benn’s political views were moulded by one particular memory:
"In 1983, I visited Hiroshima and was shown round by a guide who pointed out a dark mark on the pavement and said it was where a child had been sitting when the atomic bomb was dropped in August 1945.
"The child had been vaporized and next to it was the child’s twisted metal lunch box that had been contorted by the heat of the bomb and that was all that was left to remind us of what had happened.
"I shall never forget that moment and that is why I am totally opposed to the possession and use of nuclear weapons."
Former Strictly... star Arlene Phillips recalled her experience with her father’s dementia:
"My father moved in succession from his own flat in London (when he began to forget where he lived), to a residential home also in London, who found he needed nursing facilities, on to a nursing home in Leeds who took great care of him.
"I tried to visit every week, but my sister who lived very close visited him daily. His love in life was books and scouring the Guardian inch by inch, but gradually he lost interest and found it difficult, so my sister and I read to him, but he lost interest in that, it was as if his agile mind could no longer make sense of the words. Week by week he struggled to remember words, names, even mine.
"Wednesday was my visiting day and I planned my visit even though I was leaving the next day for Chicago. At the last minute I decided not to go to Leeds, I was only going to be away for a week, I'd see him when I got back. I left to rehearse my show in Chicago. He died just after I arrived. I have never forgiven myself."
Other contributions have come from maverick politicians Lembit Opik and Ian Gibson, TV presenter Fern Britton, children’s TV star Floella Benjamin, award-winning actor Timothy West and many more.
Sir Michael Parkinson, Tony Robinson and Sir Terry Pratchett are among the celebrities joining party leaders Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Nick Clegg in launching the Alzheimer’s Research Trust campaign, Memories Matter.
Members of the public are invited to share their unforgettable moments, good, bad or otherwise, at the Alzheimer’s Research Trust website memories-matter.org or on Twitter using the #memoriesmatter tag.
Memories from the public will be placed on the Alzheimer’s Research Trust’s Memory Wall, which will tour the country from September.
The Alzheimer’s Research Trust’s major new campaign draws attention to the memory loss experienced by the 700,000 people in the UK who live with Alzheimer’s and other dementias, and how we could halt this: through research into new treatments, preventions and cures.
Sir Terry Pratchett, Patron of the Alzheimer’s Research Trust who lives with a rare form of Alzheimer’s disease, Posterior Cortical Atrophy, led the campaign by saying:
"Deep down I know that one day my memories will go. The day my daughter was born. It was a dark and stormy night when she was in intensive care, but kind of OK. It was a long delivery. I thought that some celebration was in order.
"I found a piece of stewing steak in the fridge. It was the best damn steak I’d ever had. I cooked it with lots of onions. It was very tough, but it tasted absolutely beautiful. I went off into the driveway and I fell flat on my face.
"I didn’t hurt myself. And the elation I mean, nothing could’ve gone wrong that night. I think I’d hate to lose that memory.
The Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who met Sir Terry in November 2008 to discuss dementia research funding, recalled less stressful times:
"I thought I would write about a happy memory from almost 27 years ago, before I became a Member of Parliament. I have seen it repeated on television many times since, but nothing can replace my memory of being there and experiencing it myself.
"I was in the Spanish town of Seville in 1982, at my first World Cup Finals, to watch Scotland play Brazil. There were almost 50,000 people in the ground, and the atmosphere was terrific, with the Brazilian fans keeping up the constant samba beat on their drums.
"As always, Brazil were one of the tournament favourites, so no-one gave Scotland any kind of chance. But in the 18th minute, the Scotland defender David Narey crashed the ball into the top corner from outside the box to give us a 1-0 lead. We went wild, and for the next 15 minutes, we dared to dream that we could beat the famous Brazil.
"Sure enough, they equalised and went on to win 4-1. But that night in Seville remains one of the most memorable in my life."
The Leader of the Opposition, David Cameron and said:
"Travelling this way was the traditional way of getting to the glacier I was going to see. I had to hitch the teams of huskies up to the sleigh myself, which was almost the most testing part.
"The key tip I was given was never, ever take your foot off the ice break: if you do, you don’t see your means of transport for some miles.
"But it also gave me an unforgettable moment it’s a beautiful and exciting way to travel, through simply incredible and dramatic scenery. The photo also shows the power of pictures to make a point in this case the urgent need to tackle climate change, and the priority that I wanted the modern Conservative Party to give to the issue."
Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg added:
"It may sound clichéd, but inarguably one of the most unforgettable moments of my life was the birth of my first child. Seeing the miracle of life at first hand and for the first time was humbling and utterly life changing."
Sir Michael Parkinson said:
"One of my earliest memories is the smell of a coal mine. It was across the fields where my father worked. I thought I’d end up there but I didn’t, thank God."
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