The October Club Announces Partnership with the Multiple Sclerosis Trust at House of Commons Event

  • Infrastructure
  • 04.07.2017 08:30 am

The October Club, a committee of philanthropists based in the City, officially launched its partnership with its chosen annual charity, Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Trust, at the House of Commons yesterday. The event was hosted by Baroness Wheatcroft, a Conservative politician and previous editor-in-chief of The Wall Street Journal Europe, and Chairman Mark Pumfrey, Head of Liquidnet EMEA, and attended by the October Club’s Committee, the MS Trust and October Club supporters.

Since 1987 the October Club has raised over £10 million for transformational projects, an average of £500,000 for each cause. 2017 marks the October Club’s 30th anniversary; in which it will raise funds for the MS Trust’s Advanced MS Champions project, bringing urgently needed care and support to people living with complex and challenging symptoms.

“Since 1987 the October Club has been proud to give something back, by helping small charities make a huge difference,” said Mark Pumfrey, Chairman of the October Club and Head of Liquidnet EMEA. “We’re delighted that for our 30th anniversary we will be helping a great charity, the MS Trust, to transform support for people living with a desperately challenging condition.”

The MS Trust’s programme will fund six new Champions over a three-year period, in select locations, to trial different approaches and models of care ahead of a national roll-out. These Champions will work with people with MS and their families to understand their needs. They will use their specialist knowledge to help them manage their symptoms, and will help identify potential issues before they become emergencies. They will also coordinate care from other specialists including physiotherapists, occupational therapists, palliative and social care, to provide properly joined-up support.

Pam Macfarlane, Chief Executive of the MS Trust said, “The MS Trust is honoured to have been chosen to work with The October Club. Our work over the past five years has shown that people with advanced MS and their families all too often miss out on vital specialist care. The generous support of The October Club will enable us to act boldly on our research and make a huge difference for these people today.”

Thanks to the support of the October Club, the MS Trust is able to launch a new three-year programme to pioneer new Advanced MS Champions to bring proactive and coordinated care to people in urgent need. With a firm commitment from the NHS to permanently fund these posts, and MS Trust plans to build on this pilot programme, The October Club investment will leave a huge and lasting legacy for the future.  

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