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April 11^th was a very special day for the branch. It was World Parkinson’s Day, chosen because James Parkinson was born on April 11^th. We decided we needed to “go big” as this fell on a Saturday this year. It was also very close to the 40^th anniversary of the very first meeting of the Farnborough and District Branch of Parkinson’s UK.

We booked Alder Valley Brass to put on a concert for us and it was a great evening. We were at The Church On The Heath which we had used back in 2023 for Paul Mayhew Archer’s one man show “The Incurable Optimist”. So we sort of knew what we were doing. It still took a lot of work both before the event and on the night itself. Great teamwork all round. We had an audience of well over 150; add in the band numbers and the volunteers, we had 200 people at the venue.

We had uniformly positive comments about it; everybody seemed to enjoy it. The best comment I received was it was a “joyous occasion”. That remark was spot on!

We did have considerable expenses for hiring the venue and paying for the band. Even so, we made a profit of about £3500!

A huge thank you and congratulations to Sharon Blight who initiated the whole idea, booked the band, did all the necessary liaison and led by example with her enthusiasm and commitment.

We were blown away at our July monthly social meeting when Andy Blake made a donation to our branch. Andy had been president of the Rushmoor Rotary branch for the past year and in that role he did some fund-raising for a charity of his choice. We knew he had nominated us so we were expecting a donation, maybe £1500? maybe as much as £2000.

It was just over £3200 !!

Thank you Andy and all the people from your branch who contributed in some way to this fantastic total.

Many of us know Anita Dempsey as the excellent leader of our Move It or Lose It class on Thursdays. She is also a passionate gardener and she opened her garden to visitors in late June. It was during one of our heatwaves with very high temperatures forecast for the afternoon. Many people decided to avoid that by coming first thing. By 10 o’clock it was standing room only in her kitchen and her husband was kept very busy serving teas and coffees.

The garden is lovely and a great illustration of what you can do in an otherwise conventional long thin plot. It is full of interest and you feel as though you are going from “room to room”.

She donated the amazing sum of £507 to us – and the same amount went to her other chosen charity: Phyllis Tuckwell. Over £1000 raised altogether. Wow! and well done Anita.