Alzheimer’s Society is supporting a new dementia awareness event. Dementia Awareness Day (DAD) is taking place on Saturday 17th September 2011 and the charity is urging people to sign up to its Facebook cause page www.causes.com/causes/564203-help-set-up-a-uk-dementia-awareness-day.

DAD is being organised by Norman McNamara, or Norrms as he is known to his fans and followers, a Torquay resident living with early onset Alzheimer’s disease. Norrms regularly posts about living well with dementia on his blog, the Alzheimer’s Society Facebook page and the charity’s online forum Talking Point. He also volunteers with his wife Elaine at Alzheimer’s Society’s Memory Cafés in Torbay.

Alzheimer’s Society is supporting DAD as a way of raising awareness and understanding about dementia. There are currently 12,906 people living with dementia in Devon, and this is set to rise to 17,485 in ten years, yet there is still much stigma surrounding the condition.

Norman McNamara, aged 53, from Torquay said:

‘Never before has Dementia been so much in the public eye, or in the media, as often as it is now. This day is to bring awareness and understanding of this disease which has hidden in the shadows for too long now. Awareness will rid this awful disease of the stigma that is unfortunately associated with it and help the public talk about it openly and honestly. For people like myself with a diagnosis this is our time to stand up and speak up and explain that we are living with dementia, and not dying from it’

Watch the film below in which Norman and his wife Elaine talk about their experience of living with dementia.

Jeremy Hughes, Chief Executive at Alzheimer’s Society, said:

‘Norrms is an inspirational example of someone living well with dementia, by blogging about his own condition he is helping to tackle the misunderstandings and stigma surrounding dementia and offers hope to people in a similar situation. We applaud Norrm’s unfaltering enthusiasm for raising awareness about Alzheimer’s disease, and it’s great to hear the Facebook following for DAD has exceeded 11,000 people. We encourage more people to sign up!’

People can sign up to Dementia Awareness Day (DAD) at: www.causes.com/causes/564203-help-set-up-a-uk-dementia-awareness-day