ME ASSOCIATION MISSION STATEMENT

Charitable Objectives

The charity is established to offer relief to persons of all ages with Myalgic Encephalopathy (M.E.)/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) through the provision of information, to further education in all aspects of the illness, and to support research and to publish the useful results.

What we do and why we do it

M.E. (myalgic encephalopathy or encephalomyelitis) is a complex multisystem disease with a wide range of disabling symptoms. The ME Association is here to support people through all stages of their illness because we desperately want to see everyone get the help they need and, through research, help to develop an effective treatment and one day even a cure.

We don't employ an expensive CEO. Instead we have an terrific group of trustees who provide strategy and management on a voluntary basis. Trustees are supported by an experienced team of full and part time staff who are committed to supporting the M.E. community.

We also have a large number of dedicated volunteers who help ensure ME Connect – the telephone helpline – is available for people needing support or information.
Our main priorities are to provide support, reliable information, a voice and representation, and funding for vital medical research.

Lobbying for positive change

Trustees attend and report on the important external conferences and meetings that take place.

We are active members of Forward ME which is an influential advocacy group comprising charity and political representatives and is led by Andrew Morris and Carol Monaghan, MP. We also contribute to the CFS/ME Research Collaborative (CMRC) which is made up of scientists, clinicians and advocates.

The Ramsay Research Fund

The ME Association funds research through the Ramsay Research Fund (RRF) which was named after Dr Melvin Ramsay who helped bring awareness of M.E. to the medical profession in 1955.

Dr Ramsay also helped establish the ME Association and was its president for a number of years. He remained closely involved with the charity until his death in 1990.
We spend a lot of our time and effort working with scientists on new research grants because funding good quality biomedical research is a key priority for this charity.

Support when it's needed

We put a lot of resource into giving as much support to people affected by this disease as we can. We do this by answering cries for help and providing extensive information, through phone calls at head office, emails or messages via social media or ME Connect – the telephone helpline.

We have around 5,000 paid-up members who receive our quarterly magazine ME Essential. We receive funds and support from members and an increasing number of non-members. Support for the ME Association continues to grow, most often by non-traditional methods e.g. social media.

Website and Social Media

The ME Association's website and social media platforms continue to attract strong numbers of visitors with reach and engagement rates showing we are being effective.