Tony Britton, PR & Fundraising Manager, ME Association
The ME Association's Big Give Christmas Appeal starts a fortnight today on Tuesday, 1 December. We hope you will get as excited about it as we are.
The appeal – called ‘Mending the Medical Mindset on M.E.’ – will help us continue with our vital medical education campaign aimed at improving the way people with this condition are treated by the NHS.
- Join us from Tuesday 01 December at 12.00pm,
- Visit The Big Give Christmas Appeal to make a donation,
- Find out more by following the ME Association on Facebook and Twitter.
Awareness & Understanding
If the appeal goes well, it will enable us to invest thousands of extra pounds into giving doctors and healthcare professionals the tools they need to help M.E. sufferers receive appropriate care and support in a timely manner.
In 2021 medical education will be needed more than ever. The new draft NICE guideline on ME/CFS has been published and it received a positive endorsement by the online patient community.
- ME Association: NICE Press Statement & Media Coverage of New Clinical Guideline on ME/CFS | 10 November 2020
- ME Association: What do you think about the new NICE Clinical Guideline on ME/CFS? | 10 November 2020
For years, the ME Association has campaigned for the influential clinical guideline to be reviewed and for graded exercise to be removed.
We've also called for there to be far less reliance on cognitive behaviour therapy as a frontline treatment.
This has been accepted by the new guideline – along with other measures that should help support people with M.E.
When the guideline is published next April, and assuming there are no major changes, we will want to ensure this vital framework is taken on board by the NHS. It will be all hands to the pump as we push the new healthcare reforms out to the medical profession.
We still have a long way to go to change the medical mindset and increase awareness and understanding, but with your help, our efforts next year will need your support.
How you can help
You can support the appeal by coming online and making a donation between 12 noon on Tuesday, 01 December and midday on Tuesday, 08 December.
There's £11,250 waiting to be doubled through the medium of our appeal partners, the Big Give Christmas Challenge, The Reed Foundation, Candis magazine. and generous pledges from our supporters.
There will not be an occasion like this again for many years to come – we finally have a NICE clinical guideline that it seems we can support and we need to make the most of this and other opportunities to change the medical mindset once and for all.
- Join us from Tuesday 01 December at 12.00pm,
- Visit The Big Give Christmas Appeal to make a donation,
- Find out more by following the ME Association on Facebook and Twitter.
We can't do it without you, and we are very grateful for any and all support.
Thank you!
The ME Association
Please support our vital work
We are a national charity working hard to make the UK a better place for people whose lives have been devastated by an often-misunderstood neurological disease.
If you would like to support our efforts and ensure we are able to inform, support, campaign, and invest in biomedical research, then please donate today.
Just click the image opposite or click here for one-off donations or to establish a regular payment.
You can even establish your own fundraising event on JustGiving.
Or why not join the ME Association as a member and be part of our growing community? For a monthly (or annual) subscription you will also receive ME Essential – quite simply the best M.E. magazine!
ME Association Registered Charity Number 801279