Amy Woodget held an ‘at home’ in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, at the end of the last month with 90 guests turning out in glorious sunshine for an ME research-themed garden party in aid of our Ramsay Research Fund and ME Research UK.
A research scientist and geographer who never recovered from an attack of glandular fever 10 years ago, Amy gained her PhD from the University of Worcester just six months before she became ill.
She decided to mark this 10th anniversary by organising a fundraising event for biomedical research into ME. The garden party included mountains of tea and cake, a handmade craft stall run by creative friends Emma and Alex, a plant stall put together by Amy’s parents and even some live music from talented local musicians Abi Budgen and Dan Wilkins.
“It was wonderful to see so many people at the garden party. Family and friends from as far afield as Liverpool, London and Newcastle-upon-Tyne came along, as well as many of my husband’s work colleagues and my parents and many of their friends too”, she said.
During the event, Amy gave a heartfelt talk about ME and the pressing need for biomedical research. With husband Stuart, a clinical psychologist, joining her when her talk became a little emotional, Amy held her guests' attention as she discussed ME/CFS and her own illness journey. In an unbelieving, sceptical world, that was no mean feat!
She covered a lot of ground in the talk, including the prevailing bias against women with chronic illness – often wrongfully dismissed as ‘hysteria’.
“Six months after getting glandular fever, I was still really unwell, sometimes being unable to climb my own stairs without feeling completely exhausted. My life was just turned upside down”, she told her visitors.
Photos show: Amy Woodget; Sally and Mark, her parents; and friends Emma and Alex on the craft stall.
Two years into the illness, when she felt a little better and was being encouraged to do more, she carried out some fieldwork – measuring the shrinkage of glaciers in the Alps using scientific drones. Health-wise, however, that turned out to be disastrous. The fieldwork floored her and, since then, she has only been able to live her life at about 40% of the energy level she had when she was healthy.
But she also wanted her talk to focus on hope and optimism. Amy is a breast cancer survivor and gained some relief from her ME symptoms while receiving potent steroid medication as part of her chemotherapy.
And the publication in 2021 of the new NICE guideline on ME/CFS has overhauled a deeply flawed guideline which had been in place for 14 years. Thankfully, said Amy, graded exercise and cognitive behavioural therapy are no longer recommended as frontline treatments for ME/CFS.
With lots of family support, Amy has also been able to continue working alongside her health challenges. She now works part-time for Natural England, working with satellite imagery and artificial intelligence to create habitat maps for a project called ‘Living England’. Amy is the communications and engagement lead for this project, which published its first report and baseline habitat map at the end of last year.
This fabulous garden party, together with successful online fundraising, has now raised more than £3,000 for the Ramsay Research Fund and ME Research UK – smashing Amy’s original fundraising target many times over!
But, of course, there is still much to do… Treatments. A cure. Anyone?
Photo shows Amy welcoming guests to the garden party.
We thank you for your support, Amy, and wish you much better health in the future. Good luck, too, with the work – it sounds most exciting!
Tony Britton
Senior Fundraising Volunteer, The ME Association
fundraising@meassociation.org.uk
