Four-minute mile record holder Sir Roger Bannister was one of the guests of honour for the launch of Oxford Castaways 2, a collection of interviews by Sylvia Vetta.

The book, her second compilation of articles from The Oxford Times colour magazine Limited Edition, was launched at The Story Museum, whose founders Tish Francis and Kim Pickin featured in last month’s magazine, too late for inclusion in the book.

Mrs Vetta asks the castaways which object, work of art or book they would like, if they were marooned on a desert island.

One aim of the book is to support the charity Vale House, which cares for people with dementia, and to highlight the importance of storytelling as a way of unlocking the past, particularly for people with short-term memory loss.

Mrs Vetta said: “For me, the castaway features are more autobiography than biography because I aim to capture the voice of the castaway telling their story.”

In the foreword, she interviews one of the founders of Vale House, fellow Kennington resident Gillian Cox, who believes that reminiscing is a wonderful therapy for people with Alzheimer’s. The book describes how Ms Cox’s personal experience of her father’s care led her to chair the Oxfordshire branch of the Alzheimer’s Disease Society, formed in 1980, and then to set up Vale House.