07/07/2024 - 'Permanently unfit for any work in any capacity' by David
The Motor Neurone Disease Association was formed in 1979, when I was 13. Little was then known about the life-shortening disease, and how it affects your arms and legs, and the way you talk, eat, and breathe. The Association was born when three volunteer-led support groups in the UK joined forces – spurred into action by their own personal experiences with MND. They were united by a goal to ensure that anyone living with the disease could access the right care at the right time. The MNDA became a registered charity, with Professor Stephen Hawking as Patients' Patron, and embarked on the first research project, into the risk factors associated with MND. Within the first decade, 40 local branches of the association opened, and the inaugural national MND Awareness Week was held, and the annual income exceeded £1 million. Each decade since has been marked with ground-breaking new developments in the provision of transformational care and support for people living with, or affected by