what motivates these good people who don’t have the m.s. to run branch meetings, organise events, cook cakes etc.
it may be due to my er selfish disposition but I would feel I was a tad patronising if I started running things on behalf of other people. I’d be thinking to myself why can’t they organise themselves?
Would we have a better or worse M.S. Society if ONLY pwms could be in charge?
they may not have MS but perhaps suffer with other diseases not quite so delibeitating and know how hard it is to get the energy to organise things. I think its fab people want to help us, and shows us empathy.
Jeez i used to run 11 learning centres and was in charge of 54 tutors not so very long ago, and i had so much energy i never stopped doing 60 days weeks, ha now i can barely get through a day, i can just imagine me trying to organise a fund raiser no thanks, it would interfer in my chilling out on my recliner and watching upstairs and downstairs, let them do it i say. and thanks to them they do and they make more people aware of just how hard it is to live with MS or live with someone with MS.
Why exclude anyone who is trying to help ? There are “good and generous” people both with or without MS. No one questioned my motives when I volunteered at a community charity which offered various services for various groups of people. I reckon we are part of a group known as humanity, so if you can help and want to help even if you are not directly affected by a particular condition , why not? I do recognise that some folk have motivation and mindsets that I don’t understand or agree with, but as long as there is a variety of people types I don’t think I would try to exclude large sections of society because they are not ill enough to understand how I feel. Perhaps if we mix it up a bit I might expand their understanding too. Mick
any illness/disability consumes our mind constantly if we let it. some of my friend (who have ms) volunteer for chs (chest heart and stroke). i am swithering whether to offer my services to the local time bank. i can talk to older lonely folk (within powerchair distance). they get company and i feel useful. (well aware its not that simple but its worth the effort to try!)
locally its a guy with ms that tries to organise local events but its disorganised cos he suffers with certain issues-which he is well aware of but nobody else came forward. this all started to fall to bits when head office took over running the local branch-very sad but thats reality.
‘Swithering’ Ellie? Is that another fabulous Scottish word that I have lived my life not knowing (maybe outwith)? I totally get the meaning. And just have to remember it so I can start using it.
And back on the subject of the thread, I don’t understand why people volunteer and put in such amazing efforts for supporting people with disabilities and conditions they have no personal connection to. But given the parlous state of for e.g. the NHS and social care services, I’m very glad that they do. Volunteers do a fabulous job in so many spheres of life.
I’ve just asked my friend who is the source of all my Scottish word answers. She’s not sure if it’s a Scots word, but says it’s an oft used word north of the border. She says she’s swithering about whether to eat fajitas or pasta for tea tonight!! Sue
The hospice where I worked could not have functioned at all without the volunteers! Many of which had not had any personal experience of Cancer, MND or the other nasties, they just wanted to give their valuable time to worth while causes in the hope they could improve the lives of people directly affected by illness. It’s called kindness, caring & empathy, it’s a pity a lot more people didn’t possess such commitment, the world would be a far nicer place.
On our local Branch committee, we have 3 people with MS (including me); one whose spouse has MS, one whose Dad had MS, one whose best mate has MS and our Secretary who is a retired teacher and wanted something to do and her friend has MS. The variety gives a wider perespective to some of the issues and discussions Derek