UK Support Groups

Transverse Myelitis is an uncommon condition and it is easy to feel isolated when there is no one who appreciates your difficulties. These support group meetings are informal gatherings of TM patients and their carers, which enable you to meet others experiencing similar difficulties. They provide opportunities to find solutions to problems from others who have experienced them before. But just meeting someone else who just ‘knows’ what it feels like is a great experience.

The London Support Group has met since June 2004. Typically at every meeting there will be half a dozen ‘new’ members attending, most of whom have never met another TM sufferer! The stories are all different and yet all the same… Click here for Minutes which include general info re UK Transverse Myelitis Society. The next meeting will be at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery (Bloomsbury) on Saturday 1st Sept at 130pm - the venue is wheelchair friendly and car parking is available in Queen Square (FOC Saturday pm). Please contact Sally Rodohan (sally@apinfo.co.uk or phone 020 8883 2721) or Lew Gray (lewgray@blueyonder.co.uk ) if you are interested to attend and/or need directions.

The Scottish Support Group met for the first time in November 2003. Meetings presently are held every other month. Please contact Margaret Shearer at 01292 476758 or email margaretshearer@myelitis.org if you require further info and also to say if you plan to attend. The next meeting of this group will be held on Saturday 21st July in the Conference Room (opp. Day Room), Philipshill Ward, Spinal Injuries Unit, Southern General Hospital, 1145 Govan Road, Glasgow G51 4TF. For additional information click here Scotland TM Support Group

Meetings of the Manchester Group have been held at the Brain and Spine Injury Charity Neurocare Centre on Eccles New Road in Salford in October for the last five years. BASIC is well situated on the Manchester tramway and just round the corner from Junction 2 on the M602. It is planned to continue holding annual meetings. Click here for minutes of the 2005 meeting (17th October) which had 21 attending.

The Telford Group have been in existence since 1996 and have met every three months since then. Next meeting will be the AGM on the 24th April at the Horse Shoe Inn in Ketley (off Holyhead Road) at 12 Noon to 2 pm. Please let us know before the 10th of April if you are able to attend..The next meeting after that will be on Thursday 17th July from 2 to 4 pm at Ketley Parish Community Centre in Telford. If you would like to find out more about the group and/or would like to join their next meeting, please phone Anna Paulsson-Habegger on 01952-270987 or email annaphabegger@myelitis.org.uk  For minutes of meetings click here Telford Newsletters

The Poole(Bournemouth) Group was formed in October 2005 and meets every three months. The group meets at St George's Church Hall, Oakdale, Poole.  The next meeting is on Saturday 26th January at 2pm. For further details please contact either Teresa Bryant at teresa.bryant1@ntlworld.com or Barbara Houston at barbs@houston19.freeserve.co.uk  For minutes of meetings click here Poole Minutes

A new group in 2006 is the Berkshire Group which had its first meeting in May – this group meets on a weekday evening for convenience of members who can’t make daytime or weekend meetings. Contact Angela Dunbar a.dunbar1@btinternet.com  The meeting location is WAMDSAD (Windsor Ascot Maidenhead District Sports Association for the Disabled), Braywick Sports Ground, Maidenhead, Berkshire Sl6 1BN just off the M4. You can find a map at the WAMDSAD website http://www.wamdsad.co.uk/general/contact_us.htm The next meeting will be on Wednesday 21st April 2007 6-9pm with a drink in the bar afterwards.

The newest UK support group is the Southwest Group which had its first meeting in October 2006 at The Cleve Hotel, Wellington Somerset 2 miles from J26 of M5. The group will meet again on Sunday 27th May 2007. Contact rob@robreeves.demon.co.uk or lewgray@blueyonder.co.uk if you would like to attend.

Other one off meetings took place during 2004 at Leicester and at Boston Spa near Wetherby Yorks, and in September 2005 at Norwich. But these only attracted small groups and have not been repeated.