Take Action for Myasthenia Gravis Association

Myasthenia Gravis Association logo

In a bid to raise more awareness and vital funds for Myasthenia Gravis Association (MGA) the organisation are reaching out to communities in the North Manchester area requesting individuals to come forward to join their new ‘volunteer action group’.

This group of volunteers will directly support the work of the North Manchester branch of MGA who concentrate on delivering care, advice and information to people who have been diagnosed with Myasthenia Gravis as well as their relatives and carers.

Sarah Sanders Regional Organiser for Myasthenia Gravis Association in the North West and North Wales said: “Myasthenia Gravis is such a rare autoimmune disease that not very many people have heard of it, never mind understand the impact it has on sufferers and their families.

"We are looking for individuals who can spare as little as an hour week to help us raise more awareness and in turn raise vital funds to allow us to continue to provide support through our network of branches.”

Myasthenia Gravis, also known as the Rag Doll Illness, is a chronic autoimmune neuromuscular disease characterized by varying degrees of weakness of the skeletal (voluntary) muscles of the body. The name Myasthenia Gravis, which is Latin and Greek in origin, literally means ‘grave muscle weakness’.

The Myasthenia Gravis Association exists to promote the welfare of suffers from Myasthenia Gravis, Lambert- Eaton Myasthenic Syndrome (LEMS) and CMS Congenital Myasthenic Syndrome in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland. Offering support to Myasthenics and their families, increasing public and medical awareness and raising funds for research in order to find a cure.

North Manchester Branch Chairman Karr Parr said: "My stepdaughter suffers from Myasthenia Gravis and all the family are very grateful for the advice and support provided by the Myasthenia Gravis Association. In the North Manchester area we have over 80 people with Myasthenia Gravis and there may be many more as yet undiagnosed. These new Action Groups will go a long way in helping us to raise much needed awareness in our communities and in turn help us to support more Myasthenics”.

MGA are hoping that the action group will be made up of individuals with different experience, backgrounds and knowledge. They will be concentrating on matching volunteers with the right role for them. This could be managing the placement of collection boxes, delivering talks to community groups, organising events or initiatives, creating promotional materials for events or helping with community research. The great thing about the action group is that it will give volunteers the chance to come together once a month to share success and ideas and to feel that they are part of the organisation and contributing to delivering MGA’s main objectives of care, education and research.

If you would like more information on how to become a volunteer for Myasthenia Gravis Association or how to join the North Manchester action group please contact Sarah Sanders on 07809 647459 or my e mail at sarah.sanders@mga-charity.org  
If you would like to find out more about Myasthenia Gravis Association please visit our website www.mga-charity.org