Former All Black captain Reuben Thorne was among about 150 people walking in Dunedin yesterday to raise awareness of dementia.
The ''memory walk'' from the University of Otago School of Dentistry in Great King St to the Dunedin Community House car park in Moray Pl was led by piper Dugald Mackay.
Mr Thorne said he was doing the walk to inform people it was all right to talk about dementia and there was help and support available for people who needed it.
He was also encouraging people to reduce the chances of developing dementia by having a healthy lifestyle, including exercising regularly, eating a healthy diet, refraining from smoking and keeping socially and mentally engaged in the community.
''We've know for years those things are good for our heart but the key message is those things are good for our brain.''
Alzheimers Society Otago manager Julie Butler said she hoped the inaugural walk would become an annual event.
After the walk, she asked people to write a special memory on paper and put it in a large wooden ''memory chest''.
''To get people to realise how precise those memories are.''
Alzheimers New Zealand executive director Catherine Hall, speaking in the car park, said dementia was New Zealand's ''most significant brain health care challenge'' and it was estimated more than 150,000 New Zealanders would have dementia by 2050.
