West Berkshire Neurological Alliance Initial Screen

We are an association of people and voluntary organisations with an interest in people with a neurological condition, based in and around Berkshire West, working together in pursuit of our aims and objectives which are:

to work together to ensure that the local provision of health and related services includes fully funded neuro-rehabilitation facilities and resources appropriate to and serving the needs of all

to promote the vision that service is best delivered through a multi-disciplinary team, to ensure an integrated programme of neuro-rehabilitation, from post-acute through in-patient, out-patient and peripatetic services, and to encourage the development of the neurological peripatetic specialist nurse role

to ensure that as much treatment as desirable can be made available in the patient’s home

to encourage the NHS and Social Services authorities to merge their budgets and administration systems in order to minimise delays in the effective provision of services

to press the authorities to provide all appropriate care free of charge to service users

to ensure that the treatment which is made available to any one patient is equally available to all other patients with the same need, regardless of administrative boundaries, underlying medical conditions, age, sex, race or other factors

to integrate input from the voluntary and professional sectors, to maximise the combined benefits of partnership

to encourage the development of a support service for those individuals with a neurological condition where there is no specific voluntary group to which such individuals can turn

to raise funds, sufficiently to provide facilities or services for people with a neurological condition, where the authorities can demonstrate they are unable to make provision in the foreseeable future

We are one of over 80 organisations who are members of the Neurological Alliance, whose membership comprises other regional Alliances like ourselves plus many major national charities and other organisations concerned with neurological conditions. This makes us part of a national network of people dedicated to improving the lives of people living with these conditions, and gives us access to details of any new developments and initiatives taking place around the UK.

A message to all our members and supporters

West Berkshire Neurological Alliance would like to apologise for the dearth of new information on our website and through the medium of newsletters over the course of the past few years.

Our management committee has undergone a significant number of changes during this period. Nothing untoward has occurred, and there have been no fallings out within the organisation, but people's circumstances have changed unexpectedly and new members have unfortunately found themselves unable to sustain commitments made in good faith. However, we are pleased to confirm that we now have a small but dedicated team of people who look forward to taking WBNA into a new and hopefully Covid-free era.

We can confirm that we are still actively attending national and local Health and Social Services meetings (physically or online) relating to neurological conditions, providing input and giving feedback where we can. Until recently we were awarding grants to long term carers, and have distributed over Ł9,000 over the past three years until our funding was inevitably disrupted by Covid. Our organisation has no financial concerns, and we expect to be playing our part in this area of healthcare for the forseeable future. Thank you for your continued support.

The WBNA Management Committee, 13th January 2021.

Ammco Trust, Berkshire Masonic Charity, Colefax Trust, David Knight Trust, EBM Trust, Eli Lilly, Englefield Trust, Fitton Trust, Foyle Foundation, Gerald Palmer Eling Trust, Greenham Common Trust, Henry Denman and Agneta Cook Charitable Trust, Institute of Our Lady of Mercy, Laing’s Charitable Trust, Mary Webb Trust, Millennium Festival Awards for All, Newbury AJS & Matchless Owners Club, Newbury Town Council, Orion Pharma, Penny in the Pound Trust, Sobell Foundation, Steel Charitable Trust, Thatcham Town Council, Vodafone Charitable Trust and West Berkshire Council

If you would like to support the work of West Berkshire Neurological Alliance, you can make a donation via our page on Virgin Giving.

We are a very efficiently run and financially prudent charity, staffed entirely by volunteers, and we believe that we provide services and exert influence well in excess of what could be expected from our size. However, because we are small and do not have the available resources to spend on fundraising campaigns, it can be difficult to raise even the small amounts that we need to continue our work. Any help, no matter how small, will be gratefully received, and you can be sure that the funds will be well used.

	Chair	Irene Waters
	Vice Chair	Eric Rein
	Treasurer	David Woodhead
	Secretary	Norma Murray
	Liaison	Tony Lloyd