News 2026

Parkinson’s UK Fighting Fit weekend now open for booking

Fighting Fit weekends, specifically designed to support active people diagnosed in the last 5 years with Parkinson’s for 2026.

These weekends are orgnaised by the SouthEast team at Parkinson’s UK, running from Friday to Sunday, they are tailored for people who have been diagnosed with Parkinson’s within the last five years, and are able to take part in high-intensity physical activity with floor and standing activities.

Past attendees have described the weekends as inspiring, informative, and motivating, and told us they are leaving with a renewed sense of confidence and positivity.

At a Fighting Fit weekend you’ll have the opportunity to:

Hear from and ask questions to professionals in areas such as neuro-physiotherapy, speech and language, nutrition, medication management, and research
Take part in exercise sessions designed to keep you active and engaged
Meet others living with Parkinson’s, make new connections, and share experiences

You are welcome to bring along a family member or friend who will also benefit from the weekend’s activities and information. Each weekend is limited to approximately 20 participants, to help ensure a supportive and personalised experience.

Dates and locations:

Maidenhead: 15-17 May 2026, CIM Conference Centre, Cookham, SL6 9QH
Winchester: 5-7 June 2026, Sparsholt Conferences and Events, Sparsholt College, SO21 2NF
Canterbury: 4-6 September 2026, University of Kent, Canterbury, CT2 7NZ

Costs and financial support
The cost for the weekend is £200 for a single place, or £370 for a double place. Bursaries are available. Please get in touch on the contact details below for more information.

How to apply
You can find more and apply for Fighting Fit via the Parkinson’s UK website at: parkinsons.org.uk/information-and-support/fighting-fit

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch via email: fighting-fit@parkinsons.org.uk or call me (Katy) on 0344 225 3750.

Upcoming Fundraising events

7 March 2026

The Occam Singers have kindly nominated our Branch as their Charity of the Year in 2026 and have invited us to raise funds by donation at the interval bar at four of their concerts over the year. The first event, which features music by Handel – Dixit Dominos and Zelenka: Miserere is on Saturday 7 March at Holy Trinity Church, Guildford. For more information click here.

25 June 2026

Chilworth Manor has generously invited the branch to be their nominated charity on the first day of their highly sought-after Picnic and Pinks event on 25 June. For more information click here.

January 2026 – Royal Surrey Choir Concert fundraiser

The award-winning Royal Surrey Choir, originally conceived by the Choir Director Jake Hellier, kindly nominated our branch as their charity for their CAMP CLASSICS concert, held on Saturday 31 January at Holy Trinity Church, 162 High Street, Guildford GU1 3RR. The concert celebrated a sparkling selection of Fabulous songs featuring the music of ABBA, The Bee Gees, Madonna, Bonnie Tyler, QUEEN, Elton John, The Spice Girls, WHAM and more, all from the world of Pop, Rock and Musical Theatre and Film classics including Anything Goes, Chicago and La Cage Aux Folles. The music was brilliantly arranged, Holy Trinity Church was full, the bar was buzzing (special thanks to Silent Pool for sponsoring the Gin and tonics), raffle tickets flew and the evening was sparkling and joyous. Jake Hellier was FabUlous and the choir excelled themselves at this wonderful event. And a very generous amount of money was raised (total tbc). The Royal Surrey Choir is holding its next event in July. Look out for details.

News 2025

Branch Christmas lunch at Broadwater

Our Branch Christmas lunch was held at Godalming Rugby Club, Broadwater on 2 December. There was good attendance, with nearly 80 people booked, including 8 members in wheelchairs.

The Christmas Raffle was held and was a resounding success. Over 1,885 raffle tickets had been sold over the previous few months and the Raffle raised £4,241 for the Branch. Our huge thanks to those who generously donated the winning prizes.

Godalming Choral Society performance raises £688 for the Branch

A Retiring Collection for the Branch raised an amazing £688 at a concert by Godalming Choral Society on 29 November. The concert, Marking 80 years since VE Day, was performed at St John’s Church, Farncombe and included pieces by Elgar, Durufle, Brahms and John Williams. Musical Director was George de Voil. At the invitation of Godalming Choral Society, the Branch’s Valerie Box gave a short talk to the audience about what it’s like to live with Parkinson’s and volunteers from the branch were there to take the collection. Our sincere thanks to all of those who gave so generously and also to Valerie Box, our wonderful speaker.

Fall into JAZZ raises ca £1600

Trad’s Army traditional Dixieland Band provided an afternoon of Jazz at Chiddingfold Village Hall in September. The branch raised a fantastic £1600 through entry fees, raffle tickets and the sale of snacks as well as with kind sponsorship support. We would like to thank our generous sponsors: G.M. Luff & Mullard funeral parlours, and Leightons Opticians and Hearing Care. We are also grateful to our raffle donors: Aga cookshop; Cook; Clarendon Fine Art; Rocks & Shards; Crossways Fruiterer; Marley Flowers.

We also offer our sincere thanks to Valerie Box for organising this event.

Branch Summer Picnic a Resounding success

An enjoyable afternoon was had by all at the fabulous venue of Great Halfpenny Farm, generously hosted by Clare and John Price. This year we raised just over £1k of much needed funds for the Branch. For those unable to come it’s not too late to make a contribution towards the event. The ‘portaloo’ toilet hire was our biggest expense at £288 and it would be great to recover those costs to show a healthier profit than £1k. Donations, preferably Gift Aided, can be made direct to our Branch bank account. For our bank details please email Steve Heron at sheron@guildfordparkinsons.org.uk

Branch introduces subsidy policy

Branch funds are limited and the Branch must be prudent with spending these funds. With this in mind, the Branch has introduced a new policy regarding the subsidy we pay for our members to attend activities and classes. We only subsidise activities or classes that members actually attend. If members are unable to attend an activity or class for any reason, the branch will not pay the provider for that activity. Please note that this is operational from 1 July 2025. If you attend or are interested in attending a class please read this document.

CANnabidiol trial for Parkinson’s hallucinations

The Parkinson’s Reigate Support Group organised a presentation in April focussing on research updates including:

Parkinson’s UK Research Communications Officer, Emma Rodgers, gave an overview of the latest research, how Parkinson’s UK is driving forward new and better treatments and how the Parkinson’s community can get involved through our Research Support Network.
Professor Sagnik Bhattacharyya from King’s College London spoke about his research team’s ongoing clinical trial called CAN-PDP. It aims to understand whether cannabidiol (CBD), part of the cannabis plant, might be useful for treating hallucinations and delusions in people with Parkinson’s. The research is funded by Parkinson’s UK.

The team is looking to recruit more participants in its trial. In order to eligible you must have a Parkinson’s diagnosis, be aged 40 years or older and be experiencing symptoms of psychosis (such as delusions or hallucinations). For more information about getting involved in the trial email canpdp.trialoffice@kcl.ac.uk

Our thanks to Hazel Dawson and her fellow volunteers at the Reigate Parkinson’s Support Group for organising this fascinating talk.

World Parkinson’s Day 2025

World Parkinson’s Day was on 11 April this year.
James Parkinson’s ‘Essay on the Shaking Palsy’, published in 1817, recognised Parkinson’s as a medical condition for the first time. We mark his birthday every 11 April with World Parkinson’s Day, a day to shine a spotlight on Parkinson’s and bring the community together. Did you mark World Parkinson’s Day this year with a fundraising event such as a coffee morning for friends? If you have a story and pictures to share on how you marked the day, please send no more than 200 words and a photo to chair@guildfordparkinsons.org.uk

Branch AGM

The Branch AGM was held on Tuesday 25 February 2025 at Shalford Village Hall, Kings Road, Shalford, Guildford Surrey GU4 8BQ. The minutes are available here.

Oxygen Therapy

The Samson Centre in Guildford is a charity that has been providing Baric Oxygen Therapy (BOT) for Multiple Sclerosis patients for many years in Guildford. Some people find it helps relieve certain MS symptoms such as bladder problems and fatigue.

The charity has kindly offered members of our branch to come and use their BOT facilities to help treat some Parkinson’s symptoms. For details click here. Some studies suggest improvement in depression and anxiety caused by Parkinson’s. For more details and early user experiences please see an article in the May 2024 edition of The Park.

100 Club Subscription renewals

The majority of individuals who participate in our 100 Club make their subscription payment for the numbers they have on an annual basis, in advance. They either make a bank transfer payment or have set up an annual Standing Order payment for the amount due. Our Treasurer will remind 100 Club members just before their anniversary to ensure they remember their annual subscription is due.

For full details of How to become a member of the 100 Club and participate click here

News 2025 and 2026