Together, Sally from the Support Team and Marianne, Office and Events Manager, run the MPS Society community events throughout the year. We caught up with them to discuss how activities are chosen and organised, why affordability matters, plans for 2026 and what makes our family days out so special.
Meet the team
A lot of Marianne's work at the MPS Society is behind the scenes. So, meeting everyone face-to-face is even more special.
It's an absolute pleasure being part of the Events Team. I get to meet all of the people that I normally only email. And it's so nice to bring families together and by the end of the event they're happily chatting with the promise to keep in touch.
To Sally, the events offer a balance and bring joy among the everyday challenges.
Day to day, we're dealing with all the hard stuff, difficult topics that cause people stress and worry when they're already struggling. The events provide a much needed balance. The community needs that, we need that, the charity needs that, everybody needs that.
Location, location, location
Choosing locations can be quite tricky as there are many aspects that we have to take into account. We serve the whole of the UK, which makes it really difficult to provide local events - it's logistically impossible. This year, we have tried really hard and have started to hold more frequent, but smaller regional events, so that more people can go to them and travel less.
We also take our time deciding what we want to do and we like to do a pre-visit. We know travel can be stressful and cause anxiety, especially for families needing accessible facilities. That’s why we visit venues first to ensure everything is ready, so you can arrive with confidence and peace of mind.
Challenges
That our events are subsidised is also really important. What our community has in common is that they live with MPS or another ultra-rare condition, no matter what their backgrounds might be.
It's crucial for us that everybody has the opportunity to attend at least one event and that they don't become unaffordable because of income or any other reason.
However, the cost rises that we've seen post pandemic have posed one of the biggest challenges.
We have to raise funds otherwise the events would not happen.
There is a lot of pressure on our fundraising team to help bring the events to life. In fact, it takes everyone in the charity to work together towards this shared goal.
2025 highlights
This year, especially, we've had such a good run of activities. They've been very different and we've had such positive feedback. Sally reflects on the Independent Adult Weekend:
What's really exciting is that we've been able to go a bit bigger this year. Quite a few new people came and the word is being spread. It's an event that they have asked for themselves and I'm thrilled we were able to deliver.
Fairytale Farm in April was another highlight. We had a big marquee there that was our hub where everyone came together, enjoyed their lunches. We did Easter crafts and we had a face painter too. It felt really special and we are hoping to recreate that in other places where possible.
Coming up in 2026
Take a look at our events calendar and save the date for family adventures to Chessington's, Gulliver's World in Warrington, and hopefully around Christmas time, a magical trip to Cadbury World. These events are all planned but we still have to find the funding to make them happen.
We dream big here
More events would be fantastic! They are fun to do, they are vital for our families and all the positive feedback is so encouraging.
What we'd really love to do is take a coachload of our families to Lapland.
We never get the chance to have 50 families all in one place at the same event and create cherished memories that will last forever. If funding was available for something like that, that would just be amazing and we think it would make a lot of families happy because it's so special.
How you can help
We are thrilled to be taking part in The Big Give Christmas Challenge once again this year with the potential to raise a whopping £25k for the MPS Society! These funds will go towards funding our amazing family events in 2026.
