Portsmouth residents encouraged to wear charity badge following launch of Alzheimer's Society appeal

Alzheimer’s Society, which has a branch in Portsea, is encouraging Portsmouth residents to help raise cash for vital services by wearing the blue Forget Me Not flower badge.

It comes following the launch of their Forget Me Not Appeal which joins people together to show solidarity to those affected by dementia.

In Hampshire, 22,380 people are estimated to currently live with dementia.

The charity urge people to wear the badge in honour of someone special this June.

Residents can get involved in the appeal by purchasing a badge online or getting involved in one of several Forget Me Not themed fundraising events taking place this month.

This includes a Wear it Blue day which encourages work places to raise funds while donning their best blue attire, a 100km dog walking challenge fundraiser or getting creative with Forget Me Not Crafts.

Television presenter and writer, Angela Rippon CBE, is the first of several high-profile figures to share a treasured memory they’d never want to forget as part of the appeal.

Angela, who has presenting scores of TV programmes over the past 55 years including Rip Off Britain, has shared a heart-warming tale of the time she met the Queen.

Talking in a video she said: ‘My favourite memory of the Queen is at the Windsor Horse Show when an American friend of mine broke protocol, instigating a conversation with her.

‘She told us everything she knew about the horses, carriages, training and the joy and exhilaration of competing. It was lovely to see the Queen being herself and talking with genuine pleasure about something.’

Marion Child, Alzheimer’s Society head of service in the South East, said: ‘For too long, people affected by dementia have felt forgotten.

‘They feel forgotten by research, where breakthroughs seem to come hard and fast for other conditions, while people living with dementia are left waiting, and they feel forgotten by a care system that fails to provide the help and support they desperately need.

‘By wearing a Forget Me Not badge this June you will be showing people affected by dementia that you understand, you are with them, and you are helping to fund life-changing support.’