Crime writer Ian Rankin is supporting Parkinson’s Awareness Week and we met him at Kiki’s café which is one of 270 cafes across the UK who have signed up to take part in the campaign ran by leading support and research charity Parkinson’s UK and Vegware, the completely compostable packaging company for this year’s Parkinson’s Awareness Week 7 – 13 April 2014.
Denise McNiven, Scotland Fundraising Manager, Parkinson’s UK commented, “We were thrilled to learn that Ian Rankin has agreed to help support Parkinson’s Awareness Week this year, by giving up some of his precious writing time to take part in the photo shoot. Having such a high profile personality on board can only help to spread greater awareness about living with Parkinson’s in Scotland, and beyond”.
Ian Rankin added, “As someone who uses cafes all the time for relaxation and work, I am delighted to see so many getting involved in Parkinson’s Awareness Week.”
Parkinson’s Awareness Week, with the theme this year of ‘in control’, aims to create more awareness of the symptoms the thousands of people living with Parkinson’s in the UK face on a daily basis, and what we can all do to help people with the condition feel more in control of their lives.
For this year’s campaign, Parkinson’s UK and Vegware teamed up to offer 250 cafes across the UK a free campaign pack, including 800 free specially branded napkins and an awareness poster which they will display during the campaign week to help raise awareness amongst the general public.
Vegware’s Communications Director, Lucy Frankel said, “We have been overwhelmed by the good will of the UK’s cafes. It’s great to be joining forces to help the general public gain a better understanding of Parkinson’s. We are delighted Vegware could play a part in the campaign.”
For more information about Parkinson’s Awareness Week 2014, please visit http://www.parkinsons.org.uk/incontrol
Parkinson’s UK will be using the hashtag #incontrol and have set up a Thunderclap twitter campaign: www.thunderclap.it/en/projects/8280-parkinson-s-awareness-week
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
