BRITAIN'S Got Talent star Craig Ball has spoken of the importance of dementia awareness after a special performance for sufferers in Salisbury.

Craig Ball, who is from Salisbury and got to the final of last year's Britain's Got Talent, entertained people affected by dementia on Wednesday (May 17) at a special party to mark Dementia Awareness Week.

The 25-year-old visited Alzheimer’s Society’s Foresters day support service in Brown Street to put on a special performance for people with dementia, their families and carers.

For Craig, the event was especially poignant as his grandma, who died earlier this year, had vascular dementia and used to visit Foresters.

He said: “My grandma went to the day support service in the week when she was being cared for at home. It was a lovely place for her to go and it felt safe to her.”

Speaking about how his grandma’s dementia affected him, Craig said: “It became difficult for me to feel happy. It's a slow destructive disease and it really hit me when she couldn't fully comprehend how I was on TV whilst in the same room as her. She was always hugely supportive of me performing.”

Craig sang some Robbie Williams versions of swing songs, plus impressions to Adele’s Hello and Pharrell Williams’ Happy and various impressions of other characters such as Kermit, Miss Piggy and Top Cat.

Craig said: “I think the awareness of dementia has certainly increased over the last few years. Like many things though it needs more attention. I'm a fan of Seth Rogen and was especially happy to hear that he felt very strongly about Alzheimer’s disease to the point where he put together Hilarity for Charity to fundraise for the cause.”

To find out more about dementia, volunteering as dementia friends or making a donation to the Alzheimer’s Society contact the charity on 01722 326 236 or visit alzheimers.org.uk.