By Eric White
LOCAL and national charities, all Thurrock’s libraries and C2C participated in the Fibromyalgia Awareness Day in Thurrock on the 12th May.
Ella Vine of Fibromyalgia Action UK, fibromyalgia sufferer and the event’s organiser, said: "I would like to thank Thurrock’s libraries, C2C and YourThurrock for supporting this initiative.
"We had a great turnout at the Grays library, where dozens of people came to learn about fibromyalgia. It was truly amazing and empowering for those affected by this incurable condition, who could share experiences and information about treatments.
"There is still a lot of stigma attached to this invisible disability, that affects 2.7 million people in the UK and many people do not get the chance to talk face to face to other sufferers and to be understood. Many newly diagnosed people attended. The awareness and diagnosis in Thurrock has improved over the past year.
I would like to thank especially YourThurrock who were covering this issue regularly and local people who were fundraising and twitting – it all raised awareness, improved diagnosis and people’s lives".
As part of the awareness day Ella organised fibromyalgia event in the Parliament, where she spoke amongst MPs, researchers and healthcare experts.
She said: "There are currently 20 MPs who are Fibromyalgia Ambassadors and we have even gained the interest of the Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt. Matters are progressing, albeit very slowly. Anyone interested to know about fibromyalgia please visit www.fmauk.org".
FMSupport South East Essex next meeting Thursday 30th June 7.30pm at Stanford le Hope Methodist Church, group details on the website www.foxiefibro.co.uk
