Trent Bridge Parkinson’s Café enjoyed an early Christmas Lunch on 26th November at Welbeck Hall in West Bridgford after their last café event of 2019. The dining room was filled with laughter and chatter as the regulars from the café hosted invited guests from the Trent Bridge Rotary Club and the Castle Lodge of the Nottinghamshire Freemasons. Both organisations have been extremely generous with support towards the café during the year.
Steve Moss, a volunteer from the Trent Bridge Parkinson’s Café, said:
“We really appreciate the support we get from the local community in helping those who face living with Parkinson’s in Nottingham and the surrounding area. During 2019 we have seen new physical activities such as the weekly “Parkinson’s Swim Squad” which was started by two swimming coaches from locally based Whole Health.”
Adrian Whiteside of the Trent Bridge Rotary club said:
“One of the main community activities of the Trent Bridge Rotary Club is supporting local worthy causes. When we heard about the Swim Squad and the benefits that swimming can offer people with Parkinson’s, we saw this to be an excellent opportunity to support the organisation with funding, which enabled the group to have exclusive use of the pool for their weekly one-hour exercise sessions.”
Steve Moss also discussed the plans for next year. He said:
“Since we started the café support group in April 2017 we have seen our monthly café events become even more popular with between 50 and 60 people attending. This has given us the confidence to hold more events – starting from January 2020 we will hold café events on the second and last Tuesday each month.”
Parkinson’s is a progressive neurological condition for which there is currently no cure and it affects 145,000 people in the UK, including 10,256 in the East Midlands. The condition develops when nerve cells that are responsible for producing a chemical known as dopamine die. Dopamine allows messages to be sent to the parts of the brain that co-ordinate movement. With the loss of dopamine-producing nerve cells, these parts of the brain are unable to work normally, causing symptoms of Parkinson’s to appear.
The Trent Bridge Parkinson’s Café meets in the lounge bar of the Welbeck Hall, West Bridgford, NG2 7QW from 10:00am until midday on the second and last Tuesday each month. It is supported by the Nottingham Branch of the charity Parkinson’s UK.
The team of volunteers can be contacted by emailing trentbridgeparkinsonscafé@gmail.com