As we continue to navigate our way through this ever-changing environment, our absolute focus throughout these changes is that we continue to be here for people living with and affected by MS for years to come.

The commitment and creativity you and our staff have shown in continuing to support your local communities in new ways has been inspiring, and we’re endlessly grateful for this.

Back in June, we were delighted to announce that our Isle of Wight Group had received the Queen's Award for Voluntary Service, which is the highest award a voluntary group can receive in the UK. Now, they finally have it in their hands.

The Island’s Lord Lieutenant and one of her deputies recently visited our shop in Shanklin to present the engraved crystal award, along with a certificate from HM The Queen. It recognises all the emotional, financial and wellbeing support the group provide to those on the Island affected by MS.

The Government in England has collaborated with charities to develop the ‘Please give me space’ symbol. This simple slogan is available as a card and badge that anyone can carry (whether or not they have a health condition) to encourage other people to socially distance. You can print it out and create your own badge or lanyard for free here.

With so much change going on, our October session focussed on our new membership offer, the reopening of face-to-face group services, and the staff restructure.

We’re not setting an agenda in advance this time, so Nick and Ed will give an update on these (and other) important topics, and then answer questions more widely.

If there’s something on your mind, join in on Zoom and tell us about it. You can also submit questions in advance.

Register for your place here.

Unfortunately, the level of income loss we’re seeing as a result of this crisis does get a little in the way of us offering services and fundraising in the way we used to. We know there is a huge amount you as volunteers have all been doing this year, from phone calls and Zoom sessions, to quizzes and choirs. We're so grateful for everything you’re doing for your local communities.

Now, more than ever, we need support from everyone to fundraise and bring in money so we can continue to support our community. There are so many ways to do this, even whilst we can’t go outside.

As explained in recent emails, we’re running a trial with a small number of our local groups to test the new paperwork and procedures which need to be in place for certain face-to-face activities to restart. We’ve now approved seven groups to restart, and others are working towards this. We’ll run the trial to the end of this month and then review feedback from those involved, to see whether changes need to be made before we roll the guidance out more widely. We need to know that the new procedures work in practice and that we can support groups effectively.

As you know, we’re having to make changes further than those we already had planned as part of our transformation programme, in response to the significant impact COVID-19 has had on our finances, to ensure the organisation can remain sustainable for the long term.

We’re set to be down on income by 30% or £10Million this year, and a further 15% or £5M in 2021. It’s therefore critical to make significant savings (£5M this year, £4M annually from 2021) so we can continue to support our community in the future.

Our new research shows that, too often, people with MS can’t get the support they need to stay active and independent – and this has only got worse during lockdown.

Thousands of people with MS rely on rehabilitation services, like physiotherapy, occupational therapy or continence support, to do the everyday things many people take for granted – like making a cup of tea or moving around your home safely.

2020 has been a challenging year, for all of us. As we’ve mentioned to you before, the coronavirus crisis has dramatically affected our financial position and has meant that we’ve had to face up to some really difficult choices.

We expect our income to be £10Million less than we anticipated in our budget this year and £5Mil less in 2021. And the outlook in 2022 and beyond is still uncertain.

We know it’s early, but December will be here before we know it!

The good news is that our beautiful MS Society festive cards are now available online. You can buy them from the Cards for Good Causes website here.

This year we have 10 beautiful designs to choose from. They have been selected based on our top sellers from previous years.