Since February 2017, I’ve been a member of the Content Advisory Group for the disability charity Muscular Dystrophy UK (MDUK), which supports people and their families with muscle-wasting conditions.
The group is a voluntary, representative body for the charity, currently consisting of 25 people from around the country. Some members have a muscle-wasting condition themselves, some have relatives or children with a muscle-wasting condition and some are healthcare professionals. I do not have a muscle-wasting condition myself but have close friends and peers from school and college who do and wanted to represent them plus support the wider MD community.
Our role is to review the projects and content being considered and make sure they meet the key community groups and the primary objective to reach and engage more people with muscle-wasting conditions before the work goes live.
We are sent a project by email on a monthly basis and are asked questions on what we think of the project. For example, we’ve given feedback and our thoughts on their campaign title “Make Today Count”, the fundrraiser title “Move a Million Miles For Muscles”, various online factsheets, the MDUK magazine plus much more.
As well as all this, we also have an annual meeting where we get to meet each other, reflect on the work we’ve accomplished throughout the year and discuss ideas for future projects. Last week I was lucky enough to attend my first meeting at the Hilton Tower Bridge Hotel in London.
I got to meet some of the other members from the content advisory group plus staff from the charity. There were a lot of indepth and lively discussions on various topics throughout the afternoon, so many in fact, I couldn’t mention them all.
In a nutshell, we were given a brief overview on how our work has shaped the content of the charity this year, we analysed their website and shared our thoughts on how to improve it and lastly, we got divided into groups and discussed different areas of the charity’s content. My group talked about lifestyle, wellbeing and leisure and how more personal stories of people living with a muscle-wasting condition should be published and sharing their achievments (e.g. university, marriage & employment).
Overall the meeting was very interesting, constructive and enjoyable and I thoroughly look forward to working on future projects in the coming year.
If you, or someone you know, have any thoughts on how to improve MDUK’s content, please get in touch with me and I can pass it onto our group.
Alternatively, if you are interested in joining the Content Advisory group, email our Content Manager. Ruth Martin – R.Martin@musculardystrophyuk.org
Bake A Difference for MDUK
In addition to the content advisory work, My friend and I are hosting a bake sale on Sunday 28th October to raise money for Muscular Dystrophy UK. If you know me or live near me and would like to join us for a slice of cake, then please come along and support.
Unfortunately, I can’t invite thousands of people in my house and it would be difficult posting cakes, brownies and biscuits to everyone. But I would like to include everyone else in the blogosphere too. Therefore I’ve chosen Muscular Dystrophy UK as this months charity for blog donations. Every donation I receive, 20% will go towards the final fundraising total. In return for every donation I receive from my blog, I will give you and your blog a mention next month as a thank you.
To donate, click on the PayPal link below and follow the instructions. Every donation, large or small, can make all the difference to a person living with a muscle-wasting condition!
