Last month, MS Society staff, including CEO Nick Moberly, and members of the MS community celebrated the official opening of the Sense Belfast Hub.

The Health Minister, standing in for Her Royal Highness Princess Anne, who unfortunately was unable to attend, welcomed guests and commended the MS Society and Sense for their work delivering vital services in communities in Northern Ireland.

Read more about the centre here.

We’re currently looking for Elected Trustees to join the MS Society Board.

These are exciting times at the MS Society. Our vision is ambitious: a world free from MS. That means fewer people developing MS, and everyone with MS having the effective treatments and support they need to live well.

October is Black History Month. The theme for 2025 is, ‘Standing Firm in Power and Pride’. It spotlights Black people who’ve brought about vital change and honours and celebrates Black history. Read more here.

Local charitable trusts can be a brilliant source of funding to help you run activities that make a real difference in your community. But before you apply, it’s really important to speak with the Fundraising Team.

Because your group shares a charity number with the MS Society, we need to make sure our central fundraising team isn’t already applying to the same trust. Otherwise, we risk sending two applications, which could minimise the opportunity for a successful application and prevent future applications.

Thanks to the positive response to our latest face to face fundraising campaign, 4,073 new donors, with an average annual gift of £119, have joined us in the movement to stop MS. That’s an incredible result.

Increasing the number of regular giving supporters helps us to plan long term and allows us to build long-lasting relationships with these new supporters. You can read about the campaign here: mssociety.org.uk/get-involved/fundraise/fundraising-blog/face-face-fundraising.

In August, the Sutton Group hit their target of raising £100,000 towards the Stop MS Appeal. Congratulations to everyone involved!

We asked the group to share some fundraising tips. We hope you’ll find them useful and inspiring.

Top 10 things to consider when fundraising

1. Wear an MS-branded T-shirt or fleece.

2. Hold a bucket/tin AND a contactless device, as many people don’t carry cash these days.

It’s Menopause Awareness Month!

You can find more information about Menopause Awareness Month in the article we shared with you last month.

To help raise awareness and understanding of perimenopause and menopause and provide support for everyone going through it, we’ve put together a new resource for you.

Did you know that nearly half of the MS Society’s income comes from the gifts kind people leave in their wills? These gifts help fund groundbreaking research, vital services and support for everyone affected by MS.

Some people also choose to leave a gift to their local MS group, helping to make a lasting difference in their local community. All these gifts are extremely important in bringing us closer to a future free from MS.

We know many of you have been eagerly awaiting the launch of our new volunteer management system, Assemble. You can find all you need to know about Assemble here.

It'll be Menopause Awareness Month in October, and 18 October is World Menopause Day. This year’s theme is ‘lifestyle medicine’. Learn more here. Both are an opportunity to ‘raise awareness of the menopause and the support options available for improving health and well being’.