This is a little short explanation of my 'Year of Music' series of mixes / selections that I originally put together in 2022.
The following is the text I posted on my Justgiving page which was to raise funds for the Sue Ryder charity, who helped care for my Mum during her final three years.
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Where do I start with "my story"? Well, it's more my Mum's story really, I was just a part of that.
Back in the early 90's my Mum was diagnosed with Secondary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis. M.S is primarily a neurological condition which impacts upon the central nervous system. Although there are lots of similarities, everybody with M.S, whether Relapse Remitting, Primary or Secondary Progressive has their own unique symptoms, impact and progression. For my Mum it was a slow and steady decline in her health, motor skills and abilities over the course of 30 years.
The decline was clearer and sharper over the last few years until a bad case of pneumonia ended my Mums fight in December 2020. During the last 3 years of her life we were fortunate and very grateful that she was able to live at Sue Ryder Deeview Court in Aberdeen. Things didn't always go to plan, it wasn't always plain sailing, but I firmly believe it was the best place for her to be and as good as it could be, especially when we consider the pressures the care system is under, the challenging roles the staff have and the individual needs each resident has. It was an environment that felt safe, comfortable and had an aura of care. We could hear and see the effort, thought and care from those staff who invested themselves into their roles, whether carers on the floor, kitchen, cleaning, maintenance, reception, nursing or management, there was always someone you could rely on and trust to be doing their best.
Sue Ryder in Aberdeen is home to people with various neurological conditions and brain injuries. So people with M.S, Huntingtons, MND, Parkinsons, brain injuries from trauma or stroke for example, all have somewhere to live with the support and facilities that aim to let people live their lives as best they can, aided by some amazing staff. In other parts of the country Sue Ryder provide palliative care and they also provide bereavement counseling and services.
You can find out more about Sue Ryder here -
https://www.sueryder.org/about-us
Sue Ryder, like all charitable organisations, have been badly impacted by the pandemic and the knock on it had to fundraising efforts. So, aside from my own obvious personal connection, I'd like to try in my own small ways, to be able to help raise some funds for Sue Ryder going forward.
I am not entirely clear on how that will look going forward, but for the first step, in 2022 I started 'a year of music'. The aim being that I will try and post a fresh mix of music every week during the course of 2022. From the position I am in, in terms of my own health/mental health, it's quite a daunting task. I'm not expecting much to come of it in terms of donations, but I figured I'd try anyway and see where it takes me. Down the line I may incorporate other activites to try and boost the total further, but one step at a time.
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With the help of 17 supporters £400 was raised, and those who helped achieve that can never know how grateful I felt for their support, both with donations and perhaps just as important for me, the gift of feeling supported.
My Justgiving donations page has since been wound up. If you should happen to stumble across this page, the mixes, the story and feel like you want to contribute, then the following charities would very much appreciate any direct donation you can provide, and I would really love to hear if you do. On a personal level, I'd be more inclined to support the 2 M.S charities for any future efforts having already contributed to the Sue Ryder cause, but check out the charities for yourself and you'll see that they all do valuable work for those living with this condition.
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