MS Awareness Week 2009
Open Door - May 2009 page 15
MS Awareness Week officially ended on the 3 May and we were busy right up until the last minute trying to raise awareness of MS across the UK.
In fact, whilst most of us were preparing for Sunday dinner on the 3 May, Pam Macfarlane, MS Trust Chief Executive, was being interviewed by BBC Radio Leicester on the subject of MS.
In the run up to MS Awareness Week, we outlined our objectives for the week. We wanted to raise awareness of MS generally and to do it in a positive way, focussing on what people can do and how we can ensure people with MS now, get to live full lives too. We therefore set up a range of activities to reach out to different groups of people and to continue our day-to-day work of offering practical and positive support to people affected by MS.
Move it For MS
Mr Motivator at Move it For MS
We kicked off our campaign with the Move it For MS event at Twickenham, which was featured on 17 regional radio stations and mentioned on Erika North's breakfast show on Gold. With participants coming from as far afield as Liverpool, Bournemouth and Gwent, the event also received coverage in numerous local and regional newspapers across the UK, all excellent opportunities to help people understand MS and the positive things that can be done to help manage the impact of the disease.
Throughout the week, MS, and the work of the MS Trust, was featured on a further 61 radio stations across the UK in interviews with Pam Macfarlane, reaching a predicted audience of 6.5 million.
Chatrooms
During MS Awareness Week, we held two chatrooms; one dealing with the impact of MS on cognition and the other specifically for partners of people with MS.
The cognition chatroom gave people the opportunity to share their thoughts on and experiences of issues such as poor memory, concentration and attention span and to discuss these with specialists in the field. The healthcare professionals who participated in this chatroom were Dr Dawn Langdon, Reader in Neuropsychology; Terri Johns, neurology nurse specialist; Patrick Carroll, specialist occupational therapist and Dr Anita Rose, specialist psychologist. In addition to the many people with MS, and family members and partners of people with MS, that took part in the discussion, the MS Trust was delighted that Jeffrey Gingold, world-renowned author on this topic, and someone who deals with the impact of MS on his cognition everyday, was also able to take part from the US.
The chatroom also gave the MS Trust the perfect opportunity to launch its most innovative resource yet, the StayingSmart website. This is designed to help people with MS, their friends, family and the healthcare professionals working with them to learn more about cognition in MS, build confidence in managing cognition in MS and share knowledge and experience and is now available
The partners chatroom was set up to provide people who share their life with someone with MS with a forum to discuss their thoughts and ideas on the issues and problems that this can involve and to gain some professional insight into these issues. This chatroom benefitted from the professional input on the day of Jo Johnson, consultant neuropsychologist; Lisa Black MS specialist nurse; Lynda Hind, neurology nurse specialist and Julia Segal, MS specialist counsellor.
Everybody who participated in the chatroom commented on how much they had learned and valued the discussion, proving yet again how much MS impacts on partners and family and not just the person with MS.
New book launched
The Kids Guide to MS was also launched in MS Awareness Week. The MS Trust's latest publication is aimed at 6-10 year olds who have a mum or dad with multiple sclerosis. It is fully illustrated and in bright colours, and is designed to be read by children on their own or with a parent.
Two engaging characters, Myles and Neuro, give information about MS, answer some of the tricky questions that children may find difficult to ask and address the feelings they can experience when one of their parents has the condition.
The book was designed and written with the input of people with MS and their children. The MS Trust is very proud of the finished product and extremely grateful to the kids, mums and dads who helped bring it to life.
£50 fundraising challenge
Thank you to everyone who took part in our £50 Fundraising Challenge during MS Awareness Week.
We have been really inspired by the wonderful things our supporters have done to help raise awareness and funds as part of our £50 Fundraising Challenge.
We've seen coffee mornings, tombolas, collections in shops, headshaves, cake sales, dress down days, quiz nights... activities at schools, in libraries, health centres, offices, nursing homes... and more. Many people have even raised above and beyond the £50 target!
Around the UK
Finally, but by no means least, over one hundred of you committed to raising awareness in your locality by setting up information stands in almost 200 venues including libraries, pharmacies, schools and GP surgeries. These may seem like small attempts to raise the profile of MS with the general public, but they really make a difference and gradually, more and more people become aware of and begin to understand what MS is and what it means to those affected by it.
MS: what does it mean - photo competition
The winner of last year's logo competition
How do you explain the challenges of living with such an unpredictable condition to someone who doesn't have first hand experience of MS? The MS Trust is challenging you to do just that with our latest photography competition. If a picture really can paint a thousand words then we are hoping that you can take a photograph that captures what MS means to you.
The closing date for entries is Friday 12 June with the shortlist displayed on our website for voting until 29 June.
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