National charity PSPA is today celebrating after being awarded £164,040 in National Lottery funding to help support families affected by two neuro-degenerative conditions: progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) and corticobasal degeneration (CBD). The UK charity will use the money to deliver their Mind; Body; Soul project, supporting affected families with specialist counselling and physiotherapy.

PSPA has been providing support across the UK since 1994 and is staffed by a team of 20 and supported by 194 volunteers. It was founded by Brigadier Michael Koe after his wife Sara was diagnosed with PSP and his family found there was no support available to them. 

The charity now provides support and information to families with a confidential helpline, regional and online support groups, a Link Volunteer Service, support grants of up to £250 and also voice banking services. PSPA helps to connect families to reduce isolation, provide information to assist understanding of PSP & CBD and supports quality of life for families affected by PSP & CBD.

The new funding from The National Lottery Community Fund, which distributes money raised by National Lottery players for good causes and is the largest community funder in the UK, will see the charity launch their Mind; Body; Soul project across four years starting in spring 2024. 

Partnering with Rare Minds, PSPA will be offering specialist counselling for people living with PSP & CBD and resilience counselling for carers. More than 340 individuals or couples will benefit from the new counselling service, which aims to build emotional resilience and reduce isolation.

At the same time, PSPA is also partnering with Neuro Heroes to provide online exercise sessions for people living with a diagnosis of PSP or CBD. These online sessions will be led by neuro physiotherapists and aim to improve day-to-day living by building core strength, balance and motivation for physical activity. This new service will begin in spring 2024 and is predicted to support more than 250 individuals. 

Rebecca Packwood, PSPA CEO says: “We’re delighted that The National Lottery Community Fund has recognised our work in this way. Now, thanks to National Lottery players we will be able to press on with our plans to broaden the range of services we provide to families living with PSP & CBD. This is important because living with a rare disease can be isolating and overwhelming. Often, receiving the diagnosis is the first time someone will have heard of PSP or CBD. The Mind; Body; Soul project aims to address this by helping families build both emotional and physical resilience, as well as more opportunity to connect with others living similar experiences and experts in their care. 

Over the course of four years, we believe the project will provide the people we support with the tools and skills they need to improve their quality of life, and feel part of a community.”

The National Lottery Community Fund recently launched its new strategy,“It starts with community”, which will underpin its efforts to distribute at least £4 billion of National Lottery funding by 2030. 

As part of this, the funder has four key missions, which are to support communities to come together, be environmentally sustainable, help children and young people thrive and enable people to live healthier lives. 

National Lottery players raise over £30 million a week for good causes across the UK. Thanks to them, last year The National Lottery Community Fund was able to distribute over half a billion pounds (£615.4 million) of life-changing funding to communities. 

To find out more visitwww.TNLCommunityFund.org.uk  

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