Story
Cure Parkinson's are here for the cure. Cure Parkinson’s is working with urgency to find new treatments to slow, stop and reverse Parkinson’s. Their funding and innovation has redefined the field of Parkinson’s research, enabling the world’s leading researchers to prioritise the next generation of drugs for clinical trial. Together we will conquer Parkinson’s.
Binfield Tennis Association may be a small community club nestled near Bracknell in Berkshire, but our spirit is anything but small.
On Sunday 28th September, we are hosting the Annual Charity Tennis Tournament and Lunch - a vibrant celebration of sport, community, and compassion.
This year, we’re proudly supporting Cure Parkinson’s, a charity close to our members’ hearts. For over 20 years, Cure Parkinson’s has been driving groundbreaking research with one bold aim: to slow, stop, or even reverse the effects of Parkinson’s disease.
Their work offers real hope — and together, we can help push it forward.
Every donation, no matter how small, fuels pioneering breakthroughs that could change lives.
100% of the proceeds from our tournament day will go directly to Cure Parkinson’s.
Ellie's story
I was diagnosed with Young Onset Parkinson's a few months before my 30th birthday in 2013. I had no idea what lay ahead - how the disease would progress. Nobody does. It's the unique nature of the condition: everyone lives it differently.
I got married to my husband, who I'm very lucky and grateful to say is very supportive, and had two children after my diagnosis, and I lived for them. It felt like, in many ways, Parkinson's had taken my identity, so I forged a new one in the form of my blog, PD Mama, where I wrote about my experiences of parenting with Parkinson's in the hope it might help someone going through the same thing. I received many messages of gratitude and hope from other women with YOPD, which in turn kept me going. Writing became increasingly laborious, physically, and the frequency of my blogs waned.
In January 2024, with fluctuating symptoms and the side effects of over 10 years of taking PD drugs making daily life incredibly difficult, I had deep brain stimulation (DBS) surgery. It was successful, but not without issues and I found the experience traumatic. I had to have the whole system removed 5 months later, when it became infected (with a 1% risk it is hard not to feel unlucky), but I have a wonderful team and a new device was implanted in November 24.
I talk about my experience of having DBS openly and honestly on social media. DBS isn't a cure, but in good candidates it can be life changing. Though I've had ongoing wound healing and device optimisation issues, it has helped my movement in many ways, and it's a fine balancing act trying to optimise medication alongside stimulation levels as I'm so sensitive to the PD drugs, which you don't stop taking, and the stimulation, which is always on. The mental effects of having 3 brain surgeries in a year has obviously been a strain. I am slowly, very slowly, recovering from the events of last year.
In the early days after I was diagnosed, I struggled to find “younger” people with Parkinson's to connect with. There is a huge online YOPD community now (sadly - PD is the fastest growing neurological disease in the world), but I've been lucky enough to meet many inspiring people, both virtually and in person, who can relate to my experience, even if they are living out their Parkinson's slightly differently. I hope, likewise, that talking about my experiences helps other people in some way.
I am passionate about raising the profile of YOPD in the public eye - for the condition to be better understood and more vital funding raised for research into a cure - and have shared my story through various outlets over the years. I am involved with the Movers & Shakers' petition to get Parkinson's debated in Parliament - if you haven't already, you can read about and sign the Parky Charter here: