Ramsbury villagers come together for Parkinson's awareness walk

More than 100 Ramsbury villagers took part in a walk to raise awareness of Parkinson's Disease.

They gathered in the centre of the village at 3pm on Sunday, September 5, each walking a mile around the area.

The event was organised by Klem Clemens-Cowan, who lives in the village and who suffers from the degenerative disease.

Some years ago Ms Clemens-Cowan had taken part in trials that involved a radical new treatment in which surgeons injected a chemical directly into the part of her brain where the cells that control movement were dying, in order to regenerate them.

She said her condition improved dramatically but, when the trial ended in 2017, pharmaceutical giant Pfizer declined to fund a further clinical trial.

Parkinson’s UK is now looking into finding another drugs company to fund the next stage.

Ms Clemens-Cowan said: "Sunday's walk was fantastic. It wasn't a fundraising event, although we did collect £350 to go towards further research.

"It was more about raising awareness. There are more than 80 people with Parkinson’s in the Ramsbury surgery catchment area and around 147,000

UK wide.

"And one in 37 people alive today in the UK will be diagnosed with the condition in their lifetime."

She added: "I'd like to thank everyone who took the time to walk with us on Sunday."

The event was part of a nationwide 'Walk for Parkinson's UK' project.