Parky Charter hits over 100,000 signatures

We’re thrilled to see the Parky Charter reach 100,000 signatures, a major milestone bringing us closer to delivering real change for people with Parkinson’s. We encouraged thousands of our local group members, fundraisers and supporters to sign the petition. And it paid off!

Our Chief Executive, Caroline Rassell, said:

“Reaching 100,000 signatures is a real show of strength from the Parkinson’s community and a clear message to the government that they need to act now. Thank you to everyone who’s signed, shared, and stood with us. It’s time for change!”

Let's get the Parky Charter debated in Parliament

Reaching this milestone is a huge achievement. It means that Parliament will consider the petition for a debate in the House of Commons. But this isn’t guaranteed. It must still be approved by the Petitions Committee, so every additional signature helps show just how urgent this call for change really is. 

Sign the Parky Charter before the deadline on 10 September.

And if you've already signed, keep sharing it with family and friends.

How we're campaigning for better Parkinson's care

The Parky Charter, led by the Movers and Shakers and supported by Parkinson’s UK, Cure Parkinson’s and Spotlight YOPD, sets out 5 things people with Parkinson’s urgently need from the government. 

We’ve also been working hard on these same 5 priorities:

Speedy specialists

The government’s 10 Year Health Plan for England is positive, but it has no detail about Parkinson’s and no commitment to address the shortage of Parkinson's specialists. We’re campaigning for better access to Parkinson's care through our Can't Wait campaign.

Read more about our Can’t Wait campaign.

And we act locally to save Parkinson’s services. We’ve successfully campaigned to stop service closures in East Lancashire, and we’ve secured new nurses and physiotherapists in north west Anglia and in North Cumbria. 

Want to get involved? 

Join our online Campaigns Network.

Instant information

We’ve been calling on the government to provide better support for people when they're diagnosed with Parkinson's. And they’ve listened! 

Diagnosis Connect, announced yesterday, will refer newly diagnosed patients to the right charity for support. It was inspired by Parkinson’s Connect, our own direct referral service. 

As members of the Richmond Group of Charities, we’re partnering with the government to design this new service, while continuing to develop our Parkinson’s Connect programme.

Parkinson's passport

We’ve been campaigning for fairer access to benefits. We opposed the latest welfare bill, with lots of you contacting your MPs and encouraging them to vote against restrictions to Personal Independence Payments in England and Wales. 

Together we helped persuade the government to halt their plans, a fantastic win for our community.

We also worked with Graeme Downie MP, the new Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Parkinson’s, to try and safeguard the health element of Universal Credit so people with fluctuating conditions aren’t penalised. 

And while we got a verbal commitment from the Minister that people with Parkinson’s won’t lose out, this isn’t enough. We’ll continue campaigning.

Comprehensive care

We’re funding new nurse and therapist posts across the NHS, plugging gaps in care. Our Nurse Appeal aims to raise £9 million over the next 3 years to continue this vital work and get thousands more people with Parkinson's access to great care. 

Parkinson’s nurses are critical to ensuring people get the support they need, and we’re already half way to reaching this ambitious target.

Find out how we fund new Parkinson's specialists.

Quest for a cure

We teamed up with the UK Dementia Research Institute to launch a groundbreaking new £10 million research centre focused on Parkinson’s. This marks a major step forward in brain health research. The centre will drive vital work to better understand the causes of Parkinson’s and develop new treatments to prevent, slow, and ultimately cure the condition.

This is just one part of our research programme. We’ve invested over £120 million in research that has delivered important discoveries, new medications and better care. And we’re funding many other projects right now that are bringing new treatments within reach.

Getting Parkinson’s on the political agenda

The momentum is building. We’ve already supported two Parliamentary debates on Parkinson’s this year, held a drop in session for MPs for World Parkinson’s Day, and expanded our All-Party Group on Parkinson’s. It’s all helped to get Parkinson’s up the political agenda.

So keep sharing the Parky Charter and campaigning with us for better Parkinson's care. The more of us who get involved, the louder and stronger we'll be.