We are very pleased that 16 sessions of Therapeutic Yoga are going to be available for people with Parkinson’s in the Bracknell and District area. These sessions will run from the end of February to the end of June on Monday afternoons and are free to attend. For more details see here
Bracknell & District Parkinson’s Branch’s fundraising for 2026 got off to a great start recently when it received the sum of £4,230 from Sarla Read of Sonning Golf Club.
Sarla was the Lady Captain at Sonning Golf Club in 2025 and chose the Bracknell Parkinson’s Branch as her charity of the year and raised this magnificent sum from a number of activities including various raffles and a race night.
Will Hague, Secretary of Bracknell & District Parkinson’s Branch, said, “On behalf of the Branch, I would like to thank Sarla for this magnificent sum and for all her efforts last year in arranging the fundraising events which helped to achieve this. The monies will be used to help subsidise activities for our members which help to alleviate their condition of Parkinson’s.”
Sarla said, “I was delighted to support such a good cause.”
Photo Caption: Will presenting Sarla with a commemorative certificate to mark her donation.
Members of the Bracknell & District Parkinson’s group recently enjoyed a games evening at their monthly Branch meeting. The evening was great fun and members enjoyed playing a number of seasoned or, for some, new games including Dobble, Uno, Dominos, and Chinese.
The Bracknell & District Parkinson’s Branch recently had a very successful collection at Waitrose, Bracknell. We raised the magnificent sum of £454 as well as raising much awareness of the work of our Branch and Parkinson’s UK.
Fundraising activities such as this enable us to subsidise the services we provide for our members and also to support the aims of Parkinson’s UK.
We would like to thank Waitrose, Bracknell, and in particular, Lucinda Saywell, Community Matters Activator, for making us so welcome on the day and for allowing us to fundraise in their busy store. Our thanks must also go to everyone who generously donated money to us and to the Branch members who volunteered to help with the collection during the day.
Photo caption: Will Hague, Branch Secretary with the Branch stand.
We are very pleased to announce that Branch member Jaitinder Gill has been appointed as our new Branch Treasurer.
Those of you who have attended our monthly Branch meetings or occasional outings will probably already know Jaitinder.
However, for those of you haven’t, Jaitinder says that she’s been diagnosed with Parkinson’s since October 2023 and that she is an accounting and finance lecturer at the University of Surrey. Jaitinder lives with Matt and their two daughters, and four chickens! She enjoys running, swimming, and cycling and, since her diagnosis, has run two half marathons and a triathlon in a bid to defy her diagnosis.
I am sure that you will join me in welcoming Jaitinder to the role and wishing her every success.
We would also like to take this opportunity to give enormous thanks to Sarah for continuing as Branch Treasurer, permanent or acting, for such a long time and for performing the role so diligently.
Following Jaitinder’s appointment, Sarah will remain on the Committee and will also continue to assist Jaitinder as she grows into the role.
The Branch and its members recently enjoyed a very interesting summer outing to Portsmouth.
The day included a visit to The D-Day Story which recounted the events of 6th June 1944 and the liberation of Europe from Nazi Germany, as well as providing an opportunity to view the last surviving landing craft from D-Day, and it concluded with the awe-inspiring Overlord Embroidery which tells the story of D-Day and the Battle of Normandy in 34 extraordinary hand-stitched panels with a total length of 83 metres.
This was then followed by a visit to The Spinnaker Tower which, at a height of 170 metres above sea level, offered panoramic views that stretched over 23 miles and included some of the most spectacular sights in the British Isles.
For those brave enough, there was also the opportunity to walk across the glass Sky Walk through which you could see the harbour 100 metres below from a different perspective!
Equally importantly, the visit to the coast provided some welcome cooler weather and much needed respite from the heat back home, and so thanks to Keith and Kathy for arranging that as well!
So well done Keith and Kathy on another great outing and we look forward to seeing you all again at our various events and meetings over the coming weeks.
The photo above is © Copyright Ian Capper and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.
The photos below show Branch member Dot and her carer Jodie contemplating the Sky Walk, and how it appears close up!
