Petworth woman walks for Parkinson's cure at Cowdray Park

On Sunday, Charlotte Hamilton took part in the Walk for Parkinson’s fundraising event at Cowdray Park. The 57-year-old decided to get involved in the charity Parkinson’s UK’s annual walk as she was diagnosed with Parkinson’s seven years ago. On the day Charlotte was joined by two friends and together they walked 4.5 miles.

Charlotte said: “The walk was great fun and it was a really lovely setting. I loved seeing all the bright blue Parkinson’s UK T-shirts marching across the fields. We’ve raised about £250 for the charity.”

Parkinson’s UK is the leading charity driving better care, treatments and quality of life for those with the condition. The funds raised by the walk will help to find better treatments and ultimately a cure for the 145,000 people across the UK living with Parkinson’s.

Charlotte continued: “My Parkinson’s means I experience fatigue and pain which can really get to me. It also seems to be affecting my mind, I have trouble retaining any information and I often feel detached from things that go on around me. The biggest impact it’s had on my life is that I’ve had to leave my job. I found this really hard and it took me a long time to get over. I took part in Walk for Parkinson’s to raise awareness of Parkinson’s and to do something positive. I abseiled down Guildford Cathedral for Parkinson’s UK last year and it was great fun.”

More than 120 people took part in the walk at Cowdray and Parkinson’s UK expects to raise £14,000 from the event.