After losing her husband, John, to MND, Denise Morris has decided to take on the upcoming Larapinta Trek to honour his memory.

‘John and I used to love bushwalking together,’ Denise said. ‘It’s [Larapinta] a walk we never got to do together and I think he would have loved it.’

We’re lacing up our best (walking) kicks and kicking off our Walk to d’Feet MND fundraisers for 2020, with our first event for the year being held in Canberra on Sunday 15th March.

MND NSW are currently recruiting for a new Sydney based MND Advisor. If you have a health related background and are passionate about making a real difference to someone’s life then why not contact us on 88 77 0999 and ask to speak with Eileen O’Loghlen.

MidCoast Council held a fundraising month last October to raise funds and awareness for MND NSW. Each Monday morning they held a morning tea with trolley treats and merchandise sales, ending the month with a fundraising BBQ lunch on Friday 25 October.

Karen Martin our Manager of Service Support, Kristina Dodds our Education and Carer Support Program Coordinator along with Sue Donaldson an MND Advisor, recently represented MND NSW at the 30^th International Symposiumon ALS/MND in Perth last December.

With over 850 people from all over the world (talking things like the latest in MND research, therapeutic strategies, clinical trials, emerging biomarkers, palliative care, genetics verses environment debates and improving care practice), this annual 3 day event is the world’s premier meet up on ALS/MND and brings together researchers, clinicians and people with MND.

Here are some of the team’s biggest takeaways from the event.

We’re running a series of free information days throughout the year at different locations across the state especially for you. Our first “Living well with MND” day will be held at the Gosford RSL club on Thursday 27 February. We’d love for you to attend one of these education events.

At a previous Living well with MND day one person said “attending Living well with MND was such a valuable experience for all our family. We now feel more confident, informed about our choices and what we can do to make life with MND easier. It was good to meet others in similar situations and we learnt a great deal. A great day!”

While there has been some respite in the ongoing bushfire crisis that’s devastated parts of Australia, we’re highly aware that we’re still in the thick of it. Our thoughts are with our members, their loved ones and MND NSW staff who have been caught up in the fires, as well as the affected families, communities, and the brave firefighters and volunteers who’ve fought to save lives and property. Whilst you’ve probably already decided on your fire plan, and understand the safest thing to do is to leave early, here are a few extra key tips our MND Advisors are passing on to members living in bush fire zones.

This past year, we’ve been walking all over NSW and the ACT with our incredible supporters, working together to d’Feet MND. Thank you to everyone who has been involved in these Walk to d’Feet MND events—it’s because of you’ve that each has been such an amazing success.

Our last walk for the year
We got a little trendy with our last walk for the year, holding it in Sydney’s Inner West. We had over 500 people turn up for the event and to date, we’ve raised an incredible $77,188.28, just for this Sydney Walk.

It’s been a big year
But Sydney was by no means the only walk we’ve organised. In fact, it’s been a huge year, with a total of eight Walk to d’Feet MND events having been held all over NSW and the ACT, including two new walk locations of Taree and Young.