West Dorset Branch

Welcome to the West Dorset Branch

The branch is run entirely by volunteers and aims to provide the best possible support to local people with MND, their families, and carers.

About us

Welcome to the West Dorset Branch of the Motor Neurone Disease (MND) Association.

Run by volunteers we are here for people suspected of or living with MND and for anybody affected by MND in West Dorset.

We do the following:

• We raise funds and provide funding, primarily through our grants programme

• We provide information and updates, primarily through our Facebook group

• We provide information about care and support options in the local area, this includes linking to our network of Support Volunteers and to professionals

• We provide support for people living with or affected by MND, primarily through our monthly support meetings

Events

Branch Support Meetings take place at local garden centres and are open to anyone in the area living with or affected by MND.
These social and supportive meetings run monthly on a Monday between 11.30-2.00pm and include lunch. No booking required. For further details please do not hesitate to contact your Association Visitor.

2025 Garden Centre Dates

Monday 24th February 2025 at Castle Gardens, Sherborne

The Venues:

Latest News

Bridport Christmas Tree Festival

We have a Christmas tree at Bridport Christmas Tree Festival this year which is held at Bridport United Church. Our theme is 'Friendship and Support' which is at the heart of everything we do as a branch. This festival will be open until Sunday 15th December. Please do visit this lovely place, there are lots of beautifully decorated trees from a variety of local charities. We appreciate any donations which help us to support those with MND in West Dorset.

Easyfundraising - Online Shopping

We are now on Easyfundraising! You can help us to raise donations for our branch when online shopping by using easyfundraising.org.uk. Sign up for free and select MND West Dorset as your cause. There are over 7000 brands that will donate including Amazon, Etsy, John Lewis, M&S and Tesco to name a few. The retailer will make a donation to us at no added cost to you.

Mary's Skydive

You can read more from Mary on this Dorset Echo article and find out more about her future fundraising plans. You can still donate via their Just Giving page.

 

 

May/June Events

On June 26th we held our annual street collection in Dorchester and we are so happy to announce that we raised over £450 that morning! Thank you to everyone who gave up their time to stand and collect on a very hot day and thank you to everyone who donated and supported us. 

On May 18th two of our volunteers, Richard and Caroline, attended the Bridport Charter Fair which was a great day raising awareness of MND and the work of our branch. Later that day we then went to Rob'n'Roll a fundraising concert at the Weymouth Pavilion organised by Ed Hintze in memory of his friend Rob Goodwin. It was a fantastic event which raised an incredible £7498.53!

In May (11th-18th) we were on duty serving teas, coffees and cakes at a Quilt Exhibition at Eype Centre for the Arts. We were very grateful to the ladies of the Eype Schoolroom Quilting Group for their support during the week and for their supply of delicious cakes. Proceeds of the refreshments during this event raised approximately £450 for our branch. 

Would you like to help?

Have you ever considered volunteering with us? We would love to hear from anyone who is interested in any of the following:

• Supporting people living with or affected by MND

• Fundraising

• Engaging with diverse communities

• Getting involved in local or national campaigns

• Public speaking

For further details or an informal chat contact Andy Graham [email protected] or call 01604 800631

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