May 27 - Gibraltar Multiple Sclerosis Society Celebrate World MS Day Today

Written by YGTV Team on 27 May 2015.

Today is World MS Day and the Gibraltar Multiple Sclerosis Society will be joining in with another 83 countries around the world to highlight the condition.

They are asking companies, schools, places of work and individuals to join in and help us make a point for MS and neurology condition patients locally to wear something orange for the day. It can be an item of clothing, nail polish, a tie, any accessory, anything you want really. Those taking part are also urged to raise some funds at their company, workplace, family for the charity, which will go to the kitting out of their future premises to provide much needed extra therapies and a meeting point for local patients not only with MS but similar neurological conditions too.

The Moorish Castle will be lit up in orange in the evening and GMSS will be posting your photos of your Orange Day event on their Facebook page.

They have already been featured on the World MS Day website, literally on their map with this event and the Gianna's Pilates from last week.

The committee will be at their loaned meeting room below Inces Hall Theatre (entrance through the Gib International Bank gate entrance and to the left) to receive your collections and photos etc this evening from 6pm to 8pm. Do also drop by if you are a patient and would like to come along for a chat.

They would like to thank GADA for their ongoing support and for allowing them the use their room for their meetings.

What is GMSS ?

We are a group of local patients with Multiple Sclerosis and similar neurological conditions and some fsmily members.

These often strike young adults unexpectedly and can often abruptly change their lives. We were granted our charity status in October 2012. We aim to promote these conditions to the public as well as providing a support system for local patients and carers.

The GMSS keep in touch with patients through our popular Facebook and twitter pages. We provide informative links relevant to our conditions and anything we feel may be of interest to them. We also inform them of any locally available treatments or therapies which may be helpful to them as well as GMSS matters. We have a number of relevant overseas associations who are also active members of our pages and they and our local patients are able of communicating directly with each other through them.

We provide a platform for local patients to get in touch with each other and also where they can let us know if they have any problems with services offered locally so we can try to help out and improve these.

Since October 2011 we have been in touch with the GHA for an increase of frequency and improvement in the structure of neurology specialists visits which has slowly been improved form what was available. Prior to us setting up and doing all this, patients were not aware of others locally with the similar conditions and problems.

We thank Dr Cortes and the GHA team for listening to our comments, complaints and suggestions which are slowly developing and improving upon what was available; there is much work to be done by us and them though.

At present there are around 300 neurological condition patients locally with a variety of conditions, of these around 70 are MS patients and another 80/90 have similar conditions.

Our main aims at GMSS are to:

Highlight these conditions to the public.
Provide information and reassurance for newly diagnosed patients so they can understand their condition a little better .
To enable patients to meet others with the same conditions.if they so wish.
To highlight to the GHA and other entities the problems and needs these patients have and help them improve their services for patients, thus improving the patients lives.
To encourage the creation of a neurology specific clinic at Hospital to make diagnosis and basic relapse treatments faster and by a specialised team. This will help to avoid patients any major problems or disabilities and if needed, provide fast, specific rehabilitation to help them be as best as possible.
We are also planning to look into the Social Services support offered to these patients once they are at home and getting on with their lives as many are not aware what if any help is available to them or how to go about getting it.

Our other aim as GMSS at present is to get some premises so we can set up a GMSS Neurology Centre, where we can provide patients with specific helpful therapies and exercises which are widely used abroad to help patients remain as well as possible within their conditions constraints. It would also allow us to provide an informative library relevant to their conditions and provide basic information for newly diagnosed patients and offer help and advice with the usual problems affecting us.

It would also provide us with much needed storage space for our flags, collection boxes and other materials as well as allowing us to organise chats and meetings with specialised local and overseas professionals and other charity groups relevant to our conditions.

It would also provide a definite specifically kitted out meeting place for our committee and allow for more meetings with patients and their carers and would enable us to expand our work further.

All funds collected are being saved for the day we have premises so we are able to furbish it properly to our members needs.

Who are GMSS?

Iris Guilliano: Founder and charirperson.

Committee executive: Howard Danino: Vice chair - Anne Marie Spiteri: Treasurer – Nick Reyes: Secretary .

Committee Members: Odile Murien, Mellissa Bosano, Trevor Bickerstaff, Stacey Zammitt.

Trustees: Mark Hook, Fabian Vinet, Howard Danino.

We hope to help patients feel less alone with their condition and give them the tools to be as well as possible.

Gibraltar Multiple Sclerosis Society

Gibraltar registered charity number 236.

Facebook : Gibraltar Multiple Sclerosis Society

Twitter: @GibMsSociety

Phone: 00350 54006176