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Parkinson's Awareness Week

Each year, we hold Parkinson's Awareness Week to raise awareness of Parkinson's and our work. This also gives a focus for fundraising efforts across the UK.

The next Parkinson's Awareness Week will be 11-17 April 2011.

Parkinson's Awareness Week 2010

Parkinson's Awareness Week 2010 was all about making sure the voices of people affected by Parkinson's were heard - loud and clear.


People with Parkinson's

More people than ever before came forward to get involved in media work and talk about what it's like to live with Parkinson's:

  • Sir David Jones speaks to the Yorkshire Post. Sir David Jones, former chairman of JJB Sports, was featured in the Yorkshire Post on 22 April talking about having Parkinson's and the impact it's had on his life.
  • Parkinson's on ITV's This Morning. On Tuesday 20 April Karen Rose and her husband Mike joined Dr Chris Steele on ITV’s This Morning with Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby.
  • Dispelling myths about Parkinson’s. To highlight the week we commissioned a survey to uncover what people know about Parkinson's. The survey found that only 9% of the UK population realise that as many as 1 in 20 people with Parkinson's are diagnosed under the age of 40.
  • Leading women's magazines highlight Parkinson's. That's Life! and Woman's Weekly - with a combined readership of nearly 1 million - highlighted Parkinson's in the run up to the week


Celebrity supporters

John Stapleton with placard 'No one has to face Parkinson's alone'Celebrities such as our President, Jane Asher, and GMTV's John Stapleton also supported us.

On Sunday 25 April actor Ben Hull ran for us in the Virgin London Marathon.

Ben was joined by 211 other runners, including Clare Jones, daughter-in-law of Sir David Jones, former chairman of JJB sports, who has Parkinson's. Congratulations to our London Marathon runners!

Read more about our celebrity supporters


Local groups

Hundreds of our local groups, members and other supporters organised events such as collections, information days, parties, charity concerts and raffles to raise money and awareness.


Share your photos

If you have any photos from events you held during Parkinson's Awareness Week, why not share them with us and other supporters on Flickr?

Parkinson's Awareness Week activities in 2009

Parkinson's Awareness Week 2009 took place during our 40th Anniversary and was the most successful to date, reaching at least 53 million people. We also launched our Parkinson's Brain Donor Appeal.