My aim is to raise in excess of £2000, by cycling 200 miles between 23rd January and 24th April 2020 in association with ‘Parkinson Association, set yourself a challenge'. Some residents and staff have already volunteered to do it with me.

I am Janice Gibson, in 2018 my husband passed away and due to my Parkinsons disease I had to accept that it was no longer safe to live at home alone. With the support of my two sons I decided to become a resident at Fernlea in Hazel Grove. There have been many negative pictures posted by the media about care services in the UK but personally i have been encouraged by the staff at Fernlea and the spirit and positivity of my fellow residents. Many of us arrive at Fernlea following a prolonged stay in hospital, we tend to feel disorientated and often frightened about the future and angry at ourselves for being unwell. We hear unpleasant news about the care sector being in crisis and uncertainty about us achieving our potential is in our minds. But at Fernlea, all management, staff and Janet provide and support a wellbeing and improvement session once a week, which encourages us all to strive to be mobile again, even if this is just simply standing up unassisted. They encourage us to do activities like walk with parallel bars, stand independently and do manipulation therapy with different textures. But now we have the motivation, we want to do more. So I am leading the fundraising to buy more equipment that can be used on a daily basis, such as floor cycles, yoga balls and therapeutic equipment to add to our already expanding collection. So please make a donation to this amazing cause. No matter how small, it will make a difference and get me to my goal.