St Martin’s Community Centre was alive with sport, games and laughter on Saturday morning, as the local charity – which offers significant help and fulfilment for those living with the disease – marked World Parkinson’s Day.
More than 25 organisations and professionals were on-hand to meet potential new members, offering information, reassurance and connection. Organisers said they were encouraged to see the number of new sign-ups.
‘World Parkinson's Day is particularly important for us,’ said Chris Betley, director of Parkinson’s Guernsey.
‘Our charity has created a wide variety of sport-related activities for its members in support of medical opinion that suggests sport is the single most important thing to help slow down developing symptoms. This is our biggest day of the year where we can showcase them.
‘We’d like to encourage more people to become members, and raise awareness that we exist – for people who have either been recently diagnosed or who may have been diagnosed for a while but just didn’t realise that there’s somewhere in the island that provides all of these things and that there’s a real community.
‘It was attending an awareness day three years ago that really helped me when I was going through my own diagnosis. I was reassured because there were familiar faces who I never realised had Parkinson’s, and they were smiling and didn’t look like they’d really changed. It made me realise, OK – maybe it’s not that bad.’
Ex-marine Terry Wright has been living with Parkinson’s for 13 years, but only recently discovered the charity when joining at the end of last year.
‘It’s been like a lifeline to come and do everything and meet other people,’ he said.
‘It brings a bit of reality into light. Sometimes you think “I’m not doing too bad actually – there’s others worse than me”. You meet people at different stages, and different ages – if you want to talk, most people are open. We always like to have a social side after the activities.
‘I didn’t realise there was so much going on behind the scenes. I used to cycle a lot, but I was getting stale and needed other things to do – and I certainly found them. I’m so busy now. I’ve come here this morning to see what else I can fit in to combat Parkinson’s, and have just signed up for walking football.
‘My advice to anyone recently diagnosed would be to exercise. It really helps the body to cope with everything that’s going on, to manage the disease.’
Attendees enjoyed a variety of interactive sport demonstrations, such as boxing, pickleball, dancing and accessible cycling, while Guernsey Mind, coffee, conversation and a generous array of homemade baked goods offered to feed the soul.
You need to be logged in to comment.