Lights of hope for people with Motor Neurone Disease

Greenbridge Roundabout will once again be lit with the colours of the Motor Neurone Disease Association.

Each year, MND Associations across the globe mark 21 June as a special day of recognition, acknowledging the impact that MND has on people around the world.

This date is selected as it marks a solstice seen by many as a turning point in the year the start of a new season of hope. 

MND Associations around the world undertake a range of activities to express their hope that this day will be another turning point in the search for cause, treatment and cure of MND.

A spokesperson said: "Many iconic buildings and bridges will be lit in the Association’s colours. In Swindon the North Wiltshire Group, who have supported local people with MND and their families for the past 33 years, have arranged for the Greenbridge Roundabout lights to be in the recognisable colours of blue and orange too."

The roundabout was also lit in the organisation's colours in 2019.

MND is a fatal, rapidly progressing disease that affects the brain and spinal cord, and attacks the nerves that control movement so muscles no longer work.     

It can leave people locked in a failing body, unable to move, talk and eventually breathe, and more than 80 percent of people with MND will have communication difficulties, including for some a complete loss of their voice.

A person’s lifetime risk of developing MND is around 1 in 300, and six people per day are diagnosed with MND in the UK. 

The illness, for which there is currently no cure, kills nearly 2,200 people in the UK every year.

The North Wiltshire MND Association branch website is www.mndnorthwiltshire.org.uk