Northampton motor neurone disease charity win £40,000 grant for finance support service

The Motor Neurone Disease Association (MND Association) will use the money to create a first-of-its-kind pilot service to help give financial guidance to those recently diagnosed and affected by the disease.

Its team will offer support over the phone and via email, helping people to access funding for vital care, equipment and household bills, as well as guiding them through how to apply for benefits.

A spokesperson for the MND Association, Ben Sharpe, said: "Being diagnosed with motor neurone disease can cause huge emotional stress. As people can no longer work after diagnosis, and family members often have to give up their jobs to provide care, worries about finances can cause tremendous strain.

"Awareness of the funding support available is also incredibly low, the grant from the OneFamily Foundation will enable us to reach more people and help guide them through what can be a long and complex application process.”

The MND Association, based at David Niven House, Lower Mounts, was founded in 1979 by a group of volunteers. Since then it has grown significantly, and now supports more than 7,000 people across the country who are living with and affected by motor neurone disease and working with the NHS to improve standards of care.

The charity also funds and promotes the development of new research, with its 9,000 volunteers fundraising to find a cure for the disease.

The grant comes as part of a charity fund from the OneFamily Foundation.