A message from MS Action’s new Chairman October 2023

First, thank you to everyone who turned up at the AGM and voted and to those who voted by proxy. The one thing that I have always held dear about our centre is that it truly belongs to all of us as members. We hold a share in its ownership and have a stake in its management and we have a duty to look after it and care for it for future users. 

Naturally, my sincere hope is that it will one day go out of business and be surplus to requirements as a cure for MS will be found. However, until that day comes, and it will, our mission is to give hope to all of us that we can live healthy and happy lives through the therapies we use and the support of the community we share.

When the centre was first established the motto was, ‘self-help is our way of action’. I always viewed this the other way around, that action was our way of helping ourselves, and I still believe that to be true. The very act of doing something, however small, is empowering. Our very instinct as humans is to fight to survive and so whether it is undertaking a therapy session, volunteering to help in the office or fundraising for the centre, having a coffee and a chat around the table, you are taking action to help yourself and others. You are actively giving hope to others and to yourself.

As chair for the coming year, I obviously want to improve the finances, have stronger governance, be more transparent and so on. But running through all that I and the new committee will do, we will be providing and encouraging the giving and receiving of hope. I would like to rename the centre and call it the Hope Centre. We won’t do that because there are plenty of other, more important things to do, but this is how I think of MS Action, and I want you and everyone involved with it to always have this in mind. So, when you think why am I doing this, or what’s the point of that, the answer is, because it gives me and others a purpose today and hope for the future.

With this in mind I would like as many people as possible to volunteer to help us manage and run your centre. If you have time and experience to run social media accounts, undertake company secretarial work, have expertise in marketing, a medical or science background or you’re great with finances, enjoy talking to people, love cleaning, make great coffee, can tell jokes, we want to hear from everyone. There is always something to do and I bet that every member has something to offer and that may be as simple as just being here to listen to others.

Thank you for reading this and I look forward to working on your behalf over the coming months.

Richard Emmerson