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MND Association Sponsored Canal Walk June 2005
The
North East Hants Branch of the Motor Neurone Disease Association
held their annual sponsored Canal Walk on Saturday June 11th.
This was in advance of the National MND Awareness week which is
from the 18th to 26th June. Members and Friends of the Branch
walked the seven miles along the Basingstoke Canal from Odiham
to the Fox and Hounds in Church Crookham to raise funds and
increase the public awareness of Motor Neurone Disease. Many of
the walkers have had direct experience of MND, either through a
friend or relative and are therefore keen to support the local
Branch of the MND Association.
In the picture are Sally, Kate, Josh and
Mark, all of whom have family connections with Motor Neurone
Disease, doing their bit with some running and walking to raise
the awareness of the disease.
MND is the name given to a group of
diseases affecting the motor neurones (nerve cells) in the brain
and spinal cord which send messages to the body’s muscles. As
the motor neurones die, the messages are no longer transmitted
and the muscles stop working.
MND leaves people unable to walk, talk or
feed themselves, but the intellect and senses are usually
unaffected. It affects around 5,000 people in the UK at any one
time. Average life expectancy is two to five years from the
onset of symptoms. The cause is unknown and there is no known
cure.
This year the North East Hants Branch of
the MND Association is one of the Mayoral Charities in Basingstoke. The
Mayor has promised to donate the first £5000 from the Mayor’s
Charity Appeal to enable the Branch to buy two communication
aids called lightwriters which allow people to communicate by
use of a keyboard. The lightwriters will be loaned to people
with MND who have lost their ability to speak.
For further information please phone the
Branch helpline 01276 477399 or visit the MND Association website,
www.mndassociation.org.
Coral Smith Chairman, N E Hants Branch
MND Association
