Parkinson’s Jersey – 50@50 report
We would like to take this opportunity to once again thank the Association of Jersey for choosing Parkinson’s Jersey as one of the recipients to receive £10,000 from their 50th year celebrations 50/50 awards scheme. As we are just a voluntary committee of eight it would take us a very long time to raise that amount of money. The £10,000 was a great boost to us and was added to our patient support fund and it has been amazing that we could continue to provide all the specific exercises which help their mobility, coordination and concentration.
We provide three Neuro-Active classes at different levels per week. This is based on PD Warrior exercises designed for people living with Parkinson’s. We pay for each participant to have an assessment with the physiotherapist before joining to check out which class best suits their capability and needs.
We also have a weekly seated/standing exercise class to music. This is a fun class which patients and carers are encouraged to join in. This is followed with refreshments to allow some social time which is so important, especially to those living on their own and also gives support to the carers and allows them to relax and speak with others which is so essential to their health and well-being. Caring 24/7 is so hard. There is one gym based session per week which is an alternative if anybody prefers to work at their own pace on equipment rather than as a group.
New to us and with this extra funding we have been able to start a weekly singing group which has been amazing. Parkinsons affects the muscles including the throat muscle in some patients and it is so important to keep them strong, not only for their speech, swallowing food but more importantly taking their medication. This class incorporates exercises to strengthen the muscle and vocal cord and along with the singing has been a great success. It’s amazing how some are unable to talk very loud but their singing is really strong. Emotional to watch and hear! We have a lot of fun and everyone looks forward to their cup of tea, cakes and biscuits after plus time to socialize. All of the above classes are provided free to everyone including refreshments.
We host a monthly lunch which is also free to patient and partner/carer. These are followed by either a guest speaker or a quiz and a raffle. Tremors are one of the symptoms of Parkinson’s which some develop and can cause difficulty when using cutlery so by having this lunch anyone can feel comfortable to attend without any embarrassment knowing that we all understand the problem.
We provide free taxis to all of our activities and Parkinson related medical appointments when they have to give up driving.
Parkinson’s is such a debilitating illness and most of our committee have been carers for partners or parents. We know how hard it can be, for not only the person living with Parkinson’s but for the whole family as well, so we enjoy volunteering and working hard to provide as much as we can to give them some enjoyment and hopefully a better quality of life.
