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Where to start?? Well, I am Margaret, married to a wonderful fella named Nigel. We have two children, 18 and 17 and the whole family are music mad. We enjoy ourselves by going to local pubs and clubs to watch local bands, mainly Rock or Punk, but as long as they are good we will watch them.Nigel plays in a band called Section 22(soon to be renamed) and his friends have a band called Revisit. I am a young, (others may not agree that 43 is young, but in my head I am still 16 :)) person with Multiple Sclerosis. I was diagnosed six years ago but can trace it back ( as many people can) much further than that. I, again like many others, have held off getting involved with my local branch of the MS Society as I had imagined that everyone there would be much older than me, possibly in a wheelchair and to tell you the truth the thought of it frightened me to death. I did not want to think of how things may turn out. Therefore, if I put it to the back of my mind, then I could manage without them, sound familiar?). Then I got thinking, where can I go to meet people like me? Who I can go and have a drink and a laugh with? Where are the people who understand what it is like to live with Multiple Sclerosis? Try as I might I could not find anywhere. Even though there are plenty of sites on the internet where you can meet people, it is not quite the same as having a get together and meeting new people. After moaning and groaning to anyone who would listen it suddenly struck me, why didn't I get off my backside and do something about it myself? The idea had never occured to me before :)I am now a committee member at the Blackburn and District MS Society and they are supporting Jo ( another committee member) and myself in our quest to raise awareness amongst younger people affected with MS. We are now in the process of setting up a young (under 50's) group in our local area. It will take a long time and a great deal of effort as I realise that people my age are still thinking the same things that I did for so many years. It is now up to us to get the message across. So, if you are in the Accrington, Blackburn, Rossendale, Burnley, Darwen or surrounding areas then I would love to hear from you. I feel that there is enormous value and comfort to be gained by simply coming to an informal meeting and talking to other men and women who share the same problems and experiences as you. A positive attitude to managing MS is an essential ingredient for success in dealing with the disease. The group would be open to anyone affected by MS, that is the person with MS, their partners, friends or family as it affects them too. If you would like to join us, or if you have a similar group going in your area then please get in touch and share your experiences with me. Likewise I would love to hear from anyone who can tell me what young people are looking for in terms of a young (er) peoples's group, would you prefer support, information or just a get together for a laugh and a drink?STOP PRESS... A lovely lady called Jan has promised to help me organise a Rock/Punk gig to help raise awareness and money for the MS Society in our area. Watch this space for details :) LATEST... The gig has been booked for the 23rd November, we are trying to find a good comedian for the night. We are also hoping to have some great prizes that we can either raffle, or auction on the night. If anyone out there can offer us something worth auctioning, or that would be a good raffle prize then please get in touch. Our aim is to raise £5000 on the night, so every little helps :) UPDATE.. The venue for the gig has now closed down, so we have had to reschedule until the 8th February next year. Still it gives us more time to get more prizes...12 so far :) ALSO we have decided to invite another band to play rather than a comedian, so we have enlisted the help of GRIDLOCK a fantastic heavy rock band, not to be missed. More to follow X
