A number of landmark buildings in the city lit up blue on Friday 11th to mark World Parkinson's Day.
Milton Keynes Parkinson’s Working Age and Support Groups are very pleased to have secured the generous support of Network Rail, Hotel La Tour, Centre:MK, Cineworld and Routeco Ltd who lit up their buildings blue to help build awareness for Parkinson's.
This disease is the world's fastest growing neurological condition. Blue is the primary brand colour of Parkinson's UK and Light it Blue is part of their national campaign. MK group lead volunteer, Darren Lack, thanked his employers Routeco at Knowlhill, for asking it’s employees to wear it blue for the day and providing a venue for a drop-in Parkinson’s café. He said ‘if anyone else manages a prominent building with the ability to light it blue and would like to join in next year, please get in touch at miltonkeyneswags@outlook.com
The lighting up was just part of a busy week of activities by the group to build awareness of this degenerative condition which affects more than 420 men and women locally, of all ages and, of course, their families. It is still not known what causes Parkinson's, which includes a range of debilitating physical and cognitive symptoms, and as yet there is still no cure. The local volunteer groups work to support people locally with advice and activities, such as boxercise, ping-pong as well as making positive steps to improve specialist provision. They say their sessions help people to share their experiences, to be better informed and to challenge the condition with humour and a positive outlook.
On Wednesday, group member Vicky Howley and Parkinson's-trained coach, Gill Dawson were featured on MKFM where they spoke about the importance of physical exercise for easing the symptoms and delaying their progress.
Parkinson's Awareness Week ended on Saturday, with a stall in the city centre and the group would like to thank shoppers for taking the time to stop by and for their interest and generosity. For more information on the group search "Parkinson's Milton Keynes Working Age Group" on Facebook or email miltonkeyneswags@outlook.com
The local support groups, working with Parkinson’s UK are to run a series of monthly drop-in Cafés, which can be found on MKFM Events page. The cafes will be held at Lovat Fields Retirement Village, Willen and Strudwick’s Café within the Christian Centre, Oldbrook.
In addition there are a series of exercise classes being organised for people with Parkinson’s and their partners/carers, commencing in May. Please email Darren at miltonkeyneswags@outlook.com for further details.
