A Hamilton volunteer has made it to the final of the MS Society’s first Impact Awards – a celebration of the amazing impact volunteers have on people affected by multiple sclerosis (MS).
Carla Callaghan, 37, is one of 18 volunteers shortlisted for their contribution, and will attend the virtual awards ceremony next Wednesday, October 5, at 7pm.
Hosted by MS Society Ambassador and DJ Scott Mills, Carla will find out if she’s won one of six impact awards on the night.
More than 130,000 people live with MS in the UK and without volunteers’ time and energy, it would be impossible for the MS Society to deliver the services and support that it does.
Nominated in the ‘Informing’ category, and shortlisted by a panel of volunteers, Carla came up with the idea to start an ‘Ask an Expert’ webinar during the height of the pandemic.
Working closely with MS Society Scotland, a monthly webinar was launched through the charity’s Wellbeing Hub.
Hosted by Carla, and joined by an expert panel of speakers, people from across Scotland can join the themed monthly sessions to get information on a range of topics, including emotional health, pain and complementary therapies.
Carla and the team have been running the webinars for just over a year.
Carla, who was diagnosed with MS almost a decade ago, told Lanarkshire Live: "The pandemic brought a lot of issues for people living with MS, such as isolation and having limited access to healthcare professionals. I wanted to help get information across to people on how to live well with the condition, and so the idea of ‘Ask an Expert’ was born!
“Through ‘Ask an Expert’ we were able to bring something accessible to people, no matter what type of MS they had, and enabled attendees to interact with a panel of experts to get invaluable advice. Over the last year we’ve been able to offer loads of experts – from MS nurses and neurologists to nutritionists.”
Carla added: "Since being diagnosed with MS I’ve always wanted to help inform people and enable them to have enough information as they could about MS. It helps me as I’m helping other people – it’s so rewarding to be able to give something back to the MS community.”
The MS Society virtual awards ceremony will be live streamed on the MS Society YouTube and Facebook channels at 7pm on Wednesday, October 5.
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