Today sees the start of Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Week 2016. This year’s theme is “Let’s make MS care fair”.
Can we ask you to like and share the Facebook Cover we have produced for the week to help us raise multiple sclerosis awareness.
MS Awareness Week
World MS Day 2015
This year World MS Day takes place on the 27th of May. Which is next Wednesday to us ordinary folk.
It is one of the big days in the multiple sclerosis awareness calendar so we would like it if you could get involved.
As part of World MS Day please can you “send this e-card to someone who’s helped break down barriers to access in your life. Add your own message to explain how they’ve impacted your life. Then send it via email or social media. Use the hashtag #strongerthanMS to help us collect thank-you messages and share inspiring stories” when posting on social media.
So we thought we would send an e-card to you our readers. To thanks you for everything you have done to help promote our cause of MS awareness.
So thanks.
To find out more about different World MS Day event please have a look at the official website here.
Tie One on for Multiple Sclerosis
Most days Terri gets up and gets ready for work. But a couple of days a tear there is a difference to her routine. Those days she adds an orange patterned tie to her outfit. Why? Because she is taking part in Tie One on for Multiple Sclerosis.
Tie One on for Multiple Sclerosis is a bottom up initiative by people in the MS community to raise awareness by wearing an orange tie on a particular day. As Terri said she got involved because “It looked like a fun way to raise awareness”. Not just that she was able to speak with friends , family and clients about multiple sclerosis. There reaction was as she said ” Really positive. They asked questions and gave me an opportunity to explain MS. I work in the public so I see like 500 peeps a day, so a good conversation starter. ”
Terri wears a tie to promote MS awareness
In the first year she took part other co-workers wore orange ties as you can see in the picture above.
So why is Terri sharing her story? Well with the success of the last three Tie One on for Multiple Sclerosis days Sara (the organiser) has asked us to promote the next event. This will take place on 30th May 2019 and you can sign up for the event here. Please do invite all your friends and family to take part.
Finally, if you have taken part in Tie One on for Multiple Sclerosis before, please do consider send us a selfie so we can put it on the blog. Send to patienttalkblog@gmail.com
Thanks very much in advance.
Canes for a cure
As most of our readers will know by now this month is Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Month. So we were delighted when Ben Grynol of Top and Derby got in touch suggesting that he shares in a guest blog post how his company is not just promoting Multiple Sclerosis awareness but also raising funds for MS research.
Ben writes “For hundreds of years, walking canes were commonly used fashion accessories which were made and worn with pride. But as time went on, the aesthetics were abandoned and the finely crafted artifacts were replaced with cold, clinical, and impersonal items of utility. Today, most canes do little to inspire the self-confidence of those who use them. We aim to change this. At Top & Derby, we’re set out to end the stigma of disability by making design-driven home healthcare products. We don’t think that anyone should have to walk around with products that they’re embarrassed by. It’s just not fair.
In the spring of 2011, we started designing and building countless iterations and prototypes of many different home healthcare products. In doing so, we narrowed down our focus, and decided to launch our first product in the market – the Chatfield walking cane. We wanted to create a cane that was simple, and constructed of premium materials that would benefit a wide demographic of people. However, when we first launched the Chatfield, we weren’t really sure who would buy it. We just knew that we wanted to design and manufacture products that would improve people’s lives in some small way. Essentially, we wanted to make Home Healthcare products that people would be proud to own.
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After we launched our first product in the market – the Chatfield cane – we started getting notes from various people, all of different ages, backgrounds, and genders. In these notes, people would tell us about the ways in which the Chatfield had made a positive impact on their lives. We also learned that many of the people who use our canes have Multiple Sclerosis. Like many people, we had heard of MS, but weren’t overly familiar with the disease and how it can affect people. We started to realize that there are a lot of debilitating diseases that go unnoticed, because people have heard of them, but don’t really know what they are. So, we began doing our homework and learned a few things:
MS IS UNPREDICTABLE:
MS HAS A WIDE REACH:
THE DISEASE DOESN’T DISCRIMINATE:
THERE IS NOT A CURE…YET:
As such, we felt that it was important to give back to the people who’ve supported us. So, we decided to launch a Limited Edition version of our award winning cane in the Multiple Sclerosis awareness color – Pantone 158 to support Multiple Sclerosis Awareness and Research. Our “enable” initiative promotes Canes for a Cure as its tag-line to raise money for the cause. With the initiative, we’re donating proceeds from the sale of each cane directly to the Multiple Sclerosis organizations in Canada and the USA. Please help us to spread the word, so that we can all be a part of helping to find a cure for MS. Thanks for joining the movement, and putting more step in your game!”
Ben Grynol
Co-founder, TOP & DERBY