About us

We are Parkinson's UK. Powered by people. Funded by you. 

We're here for everyone affected by Parkinson's. By funding the right research into the most promising treatments, we get closer to a cure every day. We're the largest European charitable funder of Parkinson's research.

Together, we'll find a cure.

Our history

We've come a long way since 1969, when Mali Jenkins founded the Parkinson's Disease Society – now Parkinson's UK.

Mali's sister, Sarah Jenkins, lived with Parkinson's for many years. But when Mali looked for information about her condition, she struggled to find anything that was written for the average person. 

So Mali placed adverts in a couple of newspapers to see if anyone would be interested in setting up an exploratory steering group to find out more about Parkinson's. 16 people attended the first meeting and the idea of starting a charity grew. 

Today, we're driven by people with Parkinson's, scientists and supporters, fundraisers and families, carers and clinicians. Working together to improve lives and find a cure.

Media and press office

We're here to answer journalists' queries on Parkinson's research, fundraising, support, policy, campaigns, events, lifestyle issues and the condition.