Welcome to the Summer edition of Stand by Me.

As promised in the Spring edition of this publication, I will be keeping our community up to date on our advocacy campaigns with the objective of gaining more Government funding for our essential services for people living with Parkinson’s – particularly in regional and rural areas.

Over the past two months we have been particularly active in reaching out to both the key Ministers of the NSW Government and their Shadow Minister counterparts. The reason is because an election is coming up in early 2023 and we want to be visible to all current and future decision makers around Government funding.

We were successful in obtaining a significant capacity-building grant in fiscal 2021-22 and want to build on that with further grants in 2023 – particularly to support our 1800 HealthLine which is the gateway to all of our other services for the NSW Parkinson’s community.

On behalf of all of us at Parkinson’s NSW, I would like to wish you all a safe and happy Christmas, New Year, and summer holiday season. Enjoy the time with your loved ones and friends, and perhaps the opportunity to travel.

If you do plan to travel, you may be interested in some related stories in this edition of Stand by Me – including advice on the practicalities of travel with Parkinson’s, preparing and carrying your medications, and maintaining a healthy exercise routine while you are away from home.

Enjoy the read and the Festive Season.

Jo-Anne Reeves

Chief Executive Officer