In late 2019 and early 2020 we partnered with the Royal Ballet and a group of people living with MS to host a weekly ballet workshop with renowned choreographer Bim Malcomson at the Royal Opera House. The partnership was linked to the world premiere of Cathy Marston’s ballet The Cellist which tells the story of Jacqueline du Pré, a world-class cellist who lived with MS.
The Cellist will return to the Royal Opera House stage this October. And, we’re delighted to say, so will a new ballet workshop!
We want to help you maintain the longevity of your group’s social media accounts, to ensure the effort you put into setting up and running them doesn’t later go to waste. So, we’re asking groups to share access to their social media accounts with the Volunteer Engagement and Communications Team.
A personal social media account is one operated by you and about you. You could be talking about your hobbies, your breakfast, your latest holiday, or your work or volunteering. We’d love you to use your personal account to talk about your experience of volunteering with the MS Society.
If you do talk about your volunteering though, you’re representing the MS Society. We therefore ask that you familiarise yourself with our Social Media Policy, particularly the points below.
Over the coming weeks we’ll be starting a pilot of a new Comms Network.
The network aims to connect volunteers who look after the communications for their group with each other, as well as the Volunteer Engagement and Communications Team.
The Comms Network will enable members to come together in an informal space every few months to seek advice, as well as share best practice, opinions and feedback on specific pieces of work.
The monthly e-newsletter is our main channel for communicating with volunteers. It generally goes out on the second Thursday of the month, though the schedule can sometimes change, especially around the festive period.
The e-newsletter contains information to help all volunteers feel connected to the organisation and support them in their roles — plus a dedicated section for the many volunteers in our local groups, and a listing of events volunteers can join.
Staying Active with MS is an online monthly peer support group open to anyone living with MS who'd like to get moving again.
We feature a different sport or activity each month — bringing you experts from the field who can explain how to get involved and how to overcome barriers to inclusion.
We also hear from people living with MS who take part in the activity, sharing their experiences and what being involved means to them.
The sessions are hosted by Phil Evans, who describes why these sessions are so important to him:
If you’ve not yet had a chance to look at our new, interactive Social Media Toolkit for Volunteers, check out our short video below for a quick overview.
Every June, all around the world, people come together for Pride Month, to commemorate the Stonewall riots - the protests that changed gay rights for many people in America and beyond.
As an organisation we’re committed to promoting equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) in our work and community. You can find out more about our EDI strategy here.
