At the Parkinson’s UK Bath and District branch’s recent AGM, Chair, Robin Tanner, looked back over a successful year for the group.

The group now run five active social coffee mornings, most of which have an

average of thirty attendees. They have been providing activities at some of these groups, such as a games afternoon, skittles, exercise classes and more, however, some are happy to just mix and mingle.

Branch Chairman, Robin Tanner, said at the AGM: “The Bath Parkinson’s Branch has had a fantastic year. We have self-built a branch that we can be proud of, purely by working to a tight business plan.

“People are talking about us, which is the best way to promote Parkinson’s UK. Most of all, we’ve increased our membership by some 50%. Putting this into

perspective, we had 185 members two years ago, now we have 275. This is shown in our ability to have more people to fundraise and give a better service and support to all those with Parkinson’s and all those fantastic carers. We would like to thank all those who took part in our fundraising campaigns.”

The branch continues to expand, with exercise and yoga classes which has meant moving to larger premises. Hydrotherapy and indoor bowls has proven popular, with numbers at these events growing. Robin said: “We are doing more networking, which involves signposting to other activities in the B&NES area. People are coming to us for information, such as Somerset Care, Age UK, the Red Cross etc. However, we must remember our local members who are isolated and lonely.

“Research in Parkinson’s Disease is moving forward at a greater rate than ever

before and that is why fundraising is so important.”

The group also welcomed Dr Alan Whone as the new President of the Bath Group. Dr Whone is the Senior Lecturer in Movement and Disorders at the University of Bristol and Consultant Neurologist to Southmead Hosptial in Bristol. His

current research programme includes running non-surgical investigations into cognitive and axial complications in Parkinson’s Disease.