MS Help message from Emily Perriam, Director of Service Delivery

Hello! I hope you were able to enjoy some restful time with loved ones over the festive period.

I'm Emily Perriam, the new Director of Service Delivery. I've worked with the MS Society for over 10 years and been a key member of the project team shaping MS Help and our services transformation work.

In my new role, I'll have oversight of both UK-wide and local service delivery. This will create stronger alignment between the two areas to deliver greater efficiencies and a unified strategic vision for our services.

2026 is going to be such an exciting year for our services. When MS Help launches in April, it’ll be the first time we deliver national services (like our emotional support and information services) and all of our brilliant local community services together as one Services team.

Central to the success of all of this is the new MS Help Hub. With the Help Hub, we’re bringing together everything someone needs to manage their MS. Or to support and care for someone living with MS. We'll have a single point of contact, so whether they phone us, email us or speak to us on our new webchat facility, they'll connect directly to the Help Hub. From there, they can find information and self-support resources, signposting to specialist services, and accurate, up-to-date information about local services.

Behind the scenes, we’ve restructured our Services and Support staff teams to get us ready for the launch of MS Help. We’ve created new MS Help teams working locally to help ensure community services respond to local need. We'll be able to target resources more effectively to attract local funding for community services and projects. And (perhaps most importantly) we’ll have more staff working on the ground across the UK — having face-to-face conversations to build strong relationships with local volunteers, service providers and the MS community. Our new way of working will also help volunteers to build connections with each other.

Our volunteers are key to delivering the changes that will come with MS Help, and we know this means changing how we work with the volunteer community. We want you to feel valued, supported and empowered, so you can contribute meaningfully to our mission to improve the lives of people affected by MS.

We’re building a collaborative and inclusive volunteer management culture to ensure every MS Society volunteer has a positive and inclusive journey with us. We’re simplifying processes and reducing the barriers that make volunteering difficult. And we’ll strengthen engagement and improve how we communicate with our volunteers, to make volunteering more appealing for more people from every walk of life.

Many thanks go to all our volunteers for everything you do to support people affected by MS. I’m especially grateful to everyone who took part in co-production workshops and listening events during the development of MS Help. We’d never have got this far without you.

Emily