Parkinson's branch supports research

A giant cheque for this amount was handed over by Alan Colenutt, a founder member of the branch, to Jonathan Smith, the local Parkinson’s adviser of Parkinson’s UK, at the AGM.

The cheque hand over took place on Monday, March 21.

Jonathan said: “I would like to thank the Chichester and Bognor Regis branch and everyone in the local area who helped with their fundraising efforts.

“As the UK’s Parkinson’s research and support charity, we are leading the way to find better treatments and ultimately a cure, but our work is dependent on donations like this.”

The guest speaker at the AGM was Dr Patrick Lewis, who gave an illustrated talk entitled ‘Parkinson’s and genetics’.

This was linked with the research work he is undertaking at Reading University, and appeared to be a promising avenue of investigation.

He also highlighted the varied nature of research work being sponsored by Parkinson’s UK, which is the largest charitable funder of Parkinson’s research in the UK.

Parkinson’s affects 1 in 500 people.

It is often misunderstood partly because it can affect people in so many different ways.

The symptoms most often associated with Parkinson’s are tremor, stiffness and slowness of movement. As well as difficulties with movement, people with Parkinson’s might experience tiredness, pain or depression. These are often referred to as non-motor symptoms and can have a severe impact on people’s day-to-day lives.

Parkinson’s Awareness Week ran from April 18 to 24 this year.

Contact Parkinson’s UK Freephone National Helpline on 0808 800 0303 or see www.parkinsons.org.uk for more information.

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