Special Events 2023

END OF YEAR LUNCH 2023

2023 HAS BEEN A BUSY YEAR FOR OUR GROUP.

At Toowoomba Parkinson's Support Group, we have had lots of activities going on for our members in 2023 - meetings with great speakers; Dance for Parkinson's classes for improving balance, strength ... and a visit from Erica Rose Jeffrey, Director of Dance for Parkinson's Australia; Park 'n' Songs Choir for improving voice quality and a visit from Jonathon Welch of Choir of Hard Knocks fame; two fundraising lunches; a Parkinson's Care Group initiative we organised through Wellways Care Gateway; we lit up some buildings in purple for Parkinson's Day and, finally a fun end of year lunch in November. Here are some photos from that event which was enjoyed by many!

one of our members turns 100!

congratulations to muriel on becoming a pd centenarian!!

Muriel has been a member of our group for many years - attending meetings, our choir and our dance sessions well into her 90's. Only since COVID has she decided that her Retirement Village offers her enough entertainment, plus easy access, to occupy her needs. However, she always stays in touch. Muriel is still playing indoor bowls and enjoys life to the full. Nine of our original choir members joined with her for afternoon tea on her birthday. To the right is a photo of Joe and Carol from our group with Muriel. Doesn't she look great? The same age as Vegemite and older than the Sydney Harbour Bridge! She always says you just need to stay positive!

fundraising luncheons june 2023

After a long COVID break from fundraising, our Toowoomba Parkinson’s Support Group realised we needed to, once again, put something together to continue to raise awareness of Parkinson’s Disease in our community, offer a fun social outing to members and provide support to local People with Parkinson’s through our monthly meetings, our Dance classes and our Choir sessions.

To this end, we ran two consecutive lunches at Thai on High Restaurant, with a total of 120 guests. We used Voucher Raffles to raise most of the funds and these raffles were very well received. A local a cappella singing group, Les Cinqalongs, provided wonderful entertainment and everyone said it was a great time out. Our coffers are now refreshed and we probably do not need to fundraise for another two years at least!!

world parkinson's day local activity for 2023

podcast with some of our local members

Joe and Carol, Barb and John, and David were recently interviewed by Megan for her 'Big Little Small Talk' segment on local FM 102.7 radio. This was planned as an activity to help raise the awareness of Parkinson's in our community as the 2023 calendar rolls towards World Parkinson's Day on April 11th. Have a listen, you will find it both interesting and enjoyable.

https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/megan-ohara-sullivan/episodes/Toowoomba-Parkinsons-Support-Group---One-Year-Later-e21anqj?fbclid=IwAR0Vb6RZ6eYEh3eZUa9aWd6cqIFIBP4cgcYadaqVyqnre01zObt2X8nxorw