Marking World Parkinson's Day on 11 April, a local singing group has raised £500 to accelerate Parkinson's research at the University of Plymouth.
The Singing-4-Fun group, run by Elder Tree Befriending, put on a charity concert in aid of a new project to accelerate technologies to help people with Parkinson's better manage their symptoms from home.
The fundraising was inspired by one of the group's members, Mike Webber, who has the condition, and the group proudly presented a cheque toDr Camille Carroll, Associate Professor at the University of Plymouth and Parkinson's Service Lead at University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust, and Dr Edward Meinert, Associate Professor of eHealth at the University's Centre for Health Technology.
Mike said:
"Our Singing-4-Fun group is exactly that, we're not professional, but we thoroughly enjoy what we do and try to raise some money for local causes in the process. I met Dr Carroll through the Parkinson's service and she's been fantastic in helping to ensure that people with Parkinson's are heard during the development of new treatments, so I was pleased that we were able to support the research in one of our recent concerts. It was brilliant that Camille and Edward got involved in the singing too - we were delighted to welcome them."
The cheque was made out to charity Parkinson's UK, which has put the University's new project front and centre of its most recent fundraising campaign.
Dr Carroll and Dr Meinert came along to meet the choir and accept the donation at a recent practice.
Dr Carroll said:
"I'm so pleased that Mike and the group chose our project as their latest fundraising endeavour. Plymouth is really pioneering in its approach to Parkinson's care, and, thanks to donations like this, we hope to be able to roll out successful technologies to people with Parkinson's across the UK."
