Together with branch and group members of the MND Association from around the country, Clive Hudson chair of the East Kent Group and Judy Keay, Association Visitor Coordinator attended the Parliamentary Reception in London on 17th October, 2017.
Also attending were Katy and Mark Styles, campaigners for East Kent Group. At the Parliamentary Reception, the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on MND launched their report on PIP – Personal Independence Payments. The report highlighted the problems that people living with MND are having with reassessment of their benefits.
Powerful speeches were given by Chris Evans, the Vice Chair of the APPG on MND, by Rob Owens a person living with motor neurone disease, Patron of the MND Association Charlotte Hawkins who spoke about her father who had died from MND and the need for equipment and benefits to be timely. Finally, the Minister of the Disabled, Penny Mordaunt spoke about her department and what it was doing to change how information on people was gathered and used.
Many people had emailed their MPs to attend the event, over 50 MPs and Peers attended on the day. Rosie Duffield MP for Canterbury and Whitstable attended the event to meet Katy, Mark and Judy who live in her constituency.
MPs will be asked to write to the Minister, Penny Mordaunt to highlight the issue of reassessments of benefits for people living with progressive, degenerative diseases.
Another big part of the day is for people living with MND, their families and carers to meet with other supporters and catch up.
Katy said “It’s so important that people living with MND, their carers and families, together with Association supporters meet with MPs and share their personal stories. Every time someone shares a story this makes a big impact on an MP or Peer. If we keep sharing these
Read more about the event, and take a look at some of the social media highlights of everything that happened. You can also catch up with the speeches from the day and watch our video of volunteers speaking to MPs.