Debbie Bright was diagnosed with MND in April 2020, one month into the first lockdown. 

First one on the dance floor at parties, last one off it. Singer, dreamer and lover of the beach, she would often take solo trips just to be near the sea for the day - and send her family David Attenborough-style videos to involve all of us in her jaunts! Debbie loved travel, or in her words ‘gadding about’. She enjoyed the architecture of new places, “wide open spaces” and anywhere it was sunny. 

Debbie worked for many years with SEN children, and loved helping them one-to-one. She also volunteered with Uniting Friends, taking adults with learning difficulties on trips to the theatre, bowling, dinner and so on. In town centres nearby, she could be found fundraising for Marie Curie Cancer charity, another cause close to her heart.  

She LOVED the theatre, and was happiest when watching her two daughters Melanie and Elizabeth, and later son-in-law Mathew onstage. It was easy to spot Debbie in the audience; her Cheshire Cat grin made her impossible to ignore. That smile continued even on her hardest days, and those who knew and loved her will miss it dearly. The beam of joy from her could light up the entire room. A teenager treader-of-the-boards herself, appearing in local shows Grease and Hair at The Kenneth More Theatre in Ilford, Debbie could often be found singing around the house, and of course at Karaoke with Denis and their friends. She had a beautiful voice with a ‘country lilt’ as her daughters would say, and they should know. They sang back up for years. Cue The Shoop Shoop song or anything by The Carpenters. 

It is difficult to write down just what Debbie meant to all those who loved her. She was wife, daughter, sister, auntie and friend. To Elizabeth and I, she was mumma, mummy, sasspot and best friend. 

One in 300 people will be diagnosed with MND in their lifetime. That’s one in 300 too many. The MNDA have a vision: a world free of Motor Neurone Disease. And they are close. Closer to understanding what causes MND and how to treat it. They fund research projects and also provide vital support for those living with the disease, and the families who care for them.

Through Voice Banking and Eye-Gaze technology, we were able to communicate with Debbie until the day she died, a feat made possible by the MNDA, who funded the project. Debbie was always one for giving back though, and took part in the Google Euphonia research project - an arduous task of recording over 1500 phrases into a computer, even as she was losing the ability for clear speech herself. The project aims to help people with atypical speech be better understood, and her family were so proud of her for completing it - it was very like Debbie to think about how she could help others at a time where she herself was struggling.

Debbie asked that donations be made in her memory in the case of her passing, which sadly occurred a week ago on January 20th, 2022. Just over 20 months after her diagnosis, less than three years since symptoms began to show. 

Thank you for visiting Debbie’s JustGiving page. Any amount donated, large or small all goes to a cause she cared deeply about. Thank you.


“While I can think,
While I can talk,
While I can stand,
While I can walk
While I can dream…”
- Elvis Presley

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