OUR BRANCH IS SELF FUNDED – here’s how we operate
We organise events to generate awareness of Parkinson’s in our local community, this also generates opportunities to raise money for our work that funds all of the branch activities for our members. Should we be successful enough in one full year to generate a surplus (more than is needed to operate), we donate that surplus directly to Parkinson’s UK funded research projects.
Operating in this way allows us to achieve our aims of helping people with Parkinson’s in our area live well with their condition but also allows us to be equally supportive of Parkinson’s UK’s work to fund research projects to find a cure or improvements.
The way this happens in our branch is that the branch committee whittle down the list of the ~40 current research projects, then ask all branch members to vote on which is the most appropriate and we send our surplus amount on 1st September every year to the chosen project. After this we invite a representative from the research project to come talk to us about their work. In that way we feel involved and informed which completes the cycle for us. It is very rewarding work.
Below is a picture of our Chair, Kevin Young presenting a cheque for a significant £15,000 (from our 2024 fundraising work) to Caroline Rassell, CEO of Parkinson’s UK. Caroline was invited to a photoshoot for this and to also take part in our walking football event, in which she played and thoroughly enjoyed. Two projects benefitted from our donation and will be talking to us in 2026.
Here are the 2 research projects we supported with the £15,000.
£11,250 to project G-2404 – Understanding the different causes of Parkinson’s dementia
GIFT AID DONATION INSTRUCTIONS:
YOU MAY ALSO MAKE A DONATION DIRECT TO OUR BRANCH ACCOUNT BY BANK TRANSFER:
Barclay’s Business account name: (needs to be typed in exactly as below)
PARKINSONS DISEASE SOCIETY OF THE UNITED KINGDOM
sort code: 20-00-00 a/c 13890260
Donations can also be made by testamentary dispositions (through personal wills) and in-memoriam donations.
Please contact Branch Chairman Kevin Young for information regarding all donations.
Thank you.
We organised the following fundraising events throughout 2025 (aiming for £10,000):
(updated 18th Dec 2025)
| Event | Target | Actual |
| Marjorie Cunningham Art (Feb) | £1,500 | £1,675 |
| Cirencester Male Voice Choir (Feb) | £500 | £600 |
| Bridge Drive (Jun) | £1,000 | £1,240 |
| Pianist (Oct) | £800 | £853 |
| PPU8 (Oct) | £6,000 | £7,074 |
| Xmas Raffles (Dec) | £200 | £251 |
| Total | £10,000 | £11.693 |
Since January 2023, as summarised below, we have raised £59,234. Of this total, we have to date been involved in £35,000 being donated to Parkinson’s UK research projects and used the remainder to fund and grow our work as the branch expands in the community.
2025: Target £10,000 Actually Raised £11,693
2024: Target £21,000 Actually Raised £27,812
2023: Target £10,000 Actually Raised £19,729
Combined Target £41,000
Total Actually Raised £59,234
2026 fundraising activities will appear here after the 12th January committee meeting where we will agree on our next efforts.
Receiving a cheque from McGills Accountancy in Cirencester for £1,032.05, we were their chosen charity for 2024.
