I am doing this to raise funds for Parkinson’s UK via one of my life’s passions – beer! I’m lucky enough to have had a beer specially brewed for me by The Sperrin Brewery in Warwickshire. We named it ‘Parkies’ in honour of Parkinson’s UK, and it will be launched in my home city of Liverpool this July. A percentage of sales from the beer will be donated to the charity, along with the proceeds from raffle prizes generously donated by friends and local businesses. At the moment this is a one-off opportunity to purchase this specially brewed bitter, but we hope word of mouth will mean it gets distributed much further.

The official launch of ‘Parkies’ is at The Crows Nest pub, Victoria Road, Crosby, on Friday 3rd July 2015. I will pull the first pint at 6pm. Two other bars in Crosby - Stamps and Blues - will also have Parkies on over the weekend.  The raffle will be drawn at The Crows Nest at 9pm on Sunday 5th July.  My hope is that this and future events will raise enough money to fund a specialist Parkinson’s nurse. 

I spent much of my life in the music industry as a tour manager for rock bands. I toured with Pink Floyd, Phil Collins, Mike & the Mechanics and Van Morrison. In 2001, when I was 42, I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s. I hope that this beer will raise awareness of the disease and that your generosity will bring us nearer to a cure.

For anyone who isn’t able to be at the launch in person, but would still like to donate, please support us through this page.  Parkinson's nurses cost £150 a day.  My aim is to raise enough money for 100 days - £15,000.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity. So it’s the most efficient way to donate – saving time and cutting costs for the charity.