World Parkinson's Day: The Big Sing!

On this very special episode of Movers and Shakers, the gang head out of the Notting Hill pub to take, once again, to Downing Street. But handing over the latest petition is only the start of an action packed day – from there, it's on to the Houses of Parliament to convene with hundreds of Parkies for The Big Sing! This episode is a little journey through the day, as we speak to people who made the trip down to London about their experiences and hopes for the future. Plus, Mark Mardell is up in Huddersfield, as the WPD celebrations spread across the country.

Don't forget to sign the Parky Charter petition by going to ParkyPetition.com!

By Podot

Each week Rory Cellan-Jones guides us between the laughs and moans in the pub. To read Rory's summary of this week's episode click here.

The BIG THANK YOU!

THANK YOU for all of those who joined us on World Parkinson's Day 2025 for the Big Sing. What a day it was! You can find some fabulous pictures below taken by the wonderful photographer Jess Hurd.

A heartfelt note from Gillian...

It couldn’t have started better – the sun shone from a literally cloudless sky, and it was already beginning to get warm when we left the house. Nerves were not quite as high as I would have thought, having prepared for this for months. It was, after all, the Big Day of the Big Sing.

For anyone who has been living on the planet Zog recently, this was the Movers and Shakers’ attempt to grab the world by storm by singing (very badly alas!) about the realities and perceptions of Parkinson’s. We chose the tune of Gloria Gaynor’s great disco anthem 'I Will Survive' and to it I had penned new lyrics - watch it here.

To say that when I unveiled the idea it was met with the enthusiasm generally reserved for deep dental treatment, would not be an exaggeration. Actually that’s not quite true - Paul and Mark were enthusiastic, but Jeremy, Nick and Rory needed some persuading. Anyway, spool forward several months and there we all are, full of anticipation tinged with terror! Out of all of us, only Paul has a good voice (although the judge, Nick Mostyn, claims that he has a good one too…) and the rest of us were wondering whether we could mouth along. Then everyone appears and all our concerns are out the window. Mouth along? No possibility of that. Oh no, we are all going to sing our hearts out, whether we are hitting the right notes or not!

But I leap ahead. In fact, what happened was that, before appearing at Old Palace Yard where we were all going to sing, the Movers and Shakers, together with Helen Matthews, the head of Cure Parkinson’s, took ourselves to Downing Street to deliver the petition in support of the Parky Charter. Let me remind everyone what that is. After all, that’s what this Big Sing is all about – drawing attention to the Charter and the needs of those with Parkinson’s. So here comes a big but important parenthesis:

(The Parky Charter is all about having decent care for those with Parkinson’s, both now and, by means of funding for a cure, in the future. We have five demands, ranging from “Speedy Specialists” meaning that everyone should be entitled to see a specialist within 18 weeks of diagnosis, through to the self-explanatory “Quest for a Cure”. The petition that we handed in was conceived so that once we receive 100,000 signatures, a debate in parliament will be triggered. I’m happy to say that we are currently over 24,000 which is fabulous, but as is inevitable, the rate has slowed down. So, if you have already signed, please get friends and family to sign as well).

Back to the day itself, what can I say? Have you ever been with a group of people where the atmosphere exuded solidarity? Have you ever felt so much on the same wavelength as other people that you fuse into one? Well, that’s exactly what happened. The choir mistress Nicola Wydenbach brought us all together in a phenomenal singsong. Starting with classics like Yellow Submarine for a warm-up, by the time she reached We Will Survive, everyone was raring to go! Both the practice and the real thing were phenomenal, everyone sang with gusto, conviction and a true sense that we will at last be heard! The aftermath too was just as poignant and moving: people talked to one another, came and said hello, met with old friends and made new ones. Personally, I was close to tears the whole time…

Unexpectedly, the customary sarky Parky within us all took a collective hike as we put our cynicism behind us. Who knows, maybe our voices rising in unison will actually have an impact!