UK Support Groups

Transverse Myelitis is an uncommon condition and the symptoms are very hard to deal with or even communicate. So it is easy to feel isolated when it appears there is no one who understands how it feels. Support Groups are informal gatherings of TM patients and their carers, friends and family, which enable you to meet others with experience of TM. Support Groups provide opportunities to find solutions to problems from others who have experienced them before. But just meeting someone else who ‘just knows’ how it feels, is a great experience.

Most members are apprehensive about coming to a Support Group meeting for the first time, and most people bring a friend or family member for support. However despite the initial fear, almost everyone who comes along to a group for the first time is very pleased they did.

Typically there will be three or four new members coming to a meeting, plus 6-12 ‘regulars’. Conversation never seems to lag! Several groups invite guest speakers from time to time (eg physiotherapist, OT, pain specialist, neurologist, alternative practitioner, personal trainer), but there is always plenty of time for individual questions and discussion.

You can find information about individual UK Support Groups (ie next meeting date, venue, directions, minutes of previous meetings, general information) by clicking on the tabs at the top of this page, or on the links below.

• London Support Group
• Scottish Support Group
• Telford / West Midlands Support Group
• Poole / Bournemouth Support Group
• Manchester / Northwest Support Group
• Berkshire Support Group
• Southwest Support Group
• East Midlands Support Group
• Southeast Support Group

Other one-off meetings took place during 2004, at Leicester and at Boston Spa near Wetherby Yorks, and in September 2005 at Norwich. But these meetings only attracted small groups and have not been repeated. It has also been suggested that new Support Groups ought to be formed in Yorkshire / Northeast and Surrey / Hampshire, but these ideas have not come to fruition yet.

If there is no Support Group in your area, why not consider starting one? The TM Society has funds available to assist with venue hire, refreshment costs etc. From experience, as soon as a new Support Group is announced, new members come forward to help and participate – many of them have never met anyone else with TM!