10th Year

The last 10 Years have been very eventful for myself, as well as our Charity. Although it may not seem like it at times, it must be said that the plight of the severely affected ME sufferer has been forced higher up the agenda and we will continue to support sufferers and their carers.

DWP

It seems we are constantly having to fight on different fronts concerning how ME sufferers are treated when it comes to the medical profession or the benefits agency. At present we are working to highlight the gross mis-representation in the up and coming new ME/CFS Medical Guidelines document for the Benefits Agency, along with BRAME and other charities. (see article on p5)

Advocacy Worker

As some of you will be aware, Peter McLean is no longer employed by the Group. We have re-advertised the position and hopefully we will have someone in post by early New Year. In the meantime, we will try to provide as much support and information to members as possible, so please continue to contact us if you require assistance.

Contributions to Newsletter

This is a reminder about having a greater input into your Group Newsletter.

It is important that members have a say in what is included in the publication. Why not suggest a theme; or perhaps a new column!

Please help to keep the newsletter relevant and interesting with members stories, humorous items, helpful tips or articles relating to ME.

We are always grateful for contributions from members and it is important to note that over the last 10 years many have helped a great deal in this area, so ‘Thanks’ to everyone who has contributed over the years, it is much appreciated.

Simone Lawrence, Chair

What A Year!

2005 has certainly been an extremely short year – what with setting up the new advocacy project, new office premises, official launch of the project and the many other tasks including campaigning, fundraising… the list goes on and on…..

Fundraising Success

And what a year for fundraising it has been! Following the ME Funday in Norfolk in the summer, we received the massive amount of £15,000, which included £1,000 cheque from Baxters Food Group. Ladbrokes in Alloa also raised £500 for the group, and we received funds from the many members who have carried out fundraising activities on our behalf – we would like to say a big “Thank You” to everyone who has contributed throughout the year. This means a very great deal to the group and also proves to The Big Lottery Fund that we certainly trying to become as self-sufficient as possible.

The organisers of the ME Fly-in and Funday did a fantastic job and we were very sorry that we were unable to attend the event itself. However, there is an overview of the day itself (on pages 3-4) so members can find out more about what events took place at the Funday and we hope you are able to feel part of the day by looking at the photos and reading the story. We were lucky enough to meet up with some of the organisers who actually travelled all the way to Troon in order to formally present the cheque. We would like to express our thanks to them for taking the time and effort to present the cheque personally. The cheque was accepted on our behalf by our Patron, The Countess of Mar, who also took time out from her extremely busy schedule to travel up to Troon in order to receive the cheque. We are very grateful to her for this and it was also lovely to meet her along with the organisers of the Funday.

Let’s hope the past year is a sign of things to come and that our fundraising activities and initiatives are as successful next year.

Linda Conner, Development/Admin Worker