FORMER England footballer Gordon Banks and Sir Michael Parkinson have relived their personal experiences with dementia to inspire the nation to reduce the stigma about the condition.
The pair, alongside broadcaster Fiona Phillips, are also encouraging people who think they have any symptoms of the condition to seek medical advice.
New research from Alzheimer's Disease International (ADI) found that a quarter of people hide their diagnosis because of negative connotations surrounding dementia.
Phillips, whose parents both had dementia, said if her mother had been diagnosed earlier then she could have handled the situation better.
"I would have been able to plan more for mum instead of doing everything in a big rush," she said.
"Our house always smelt of baking when we were little and I used to love helping mum make cakes and there were always cakes in the tin.
"She rung me up at 3am one morning crying her eyes out and she said, 'I've forgotten how to make cakes.' And my childhood went then."
"The ultimate problem you have to face with anyone who has any form of dementia is that you lose them before they die," Parkinson said.
"I lost my mother 18 months to a year before she died and that is the ultimate desperate tragedy."
Banks, whose brother David suffered from the condition, recalled, "We sat in the lounge talking to him and we would ask him a question and he would just go blank - he wouldn't answer it - he couldn't remember what we were discussing."
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UK stars reveal dementia heartbreak
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