Village News

Sloe Gin Competition

Mercita and her family kindly hosted the annual Littleton Drew Sloe Gin competition on Sat 12th Feb at Manor Farm.

She managed to raise £210 towards the church heating fund.

A big thank you to everyone who attended and made it such a  great event.

Easter Egg Hunt

A big “thank you” to everyone that attended the Easter Egg Hunt on Mon 25th April and contributed eggs and donations.

We managed to raise £30.50 towards the church heating fund.

From the Easter Bunny !

Myasthenia Gravis Coffee Morning

Many thanks to all who supported Val’s Coffee Morning for the Ladies of Littleton Drew to raise funds for the Myasthenia Gravis Association. MGA is a voluntary organisation with charitable status, whose funds are directed into three main area: the support of research into management and cure of the disease; the provision of a national support network and increasing public and medical awareness of Myasthenia Gravis.

A total of £54.00 was raised from donations and a raffle which will be forwarded to the area organiser.

Once again many thanks.

What is Myasthenia ?

Myasthenia Gravis, classed as a rare disease and affecting only 1 in 10,000, is an auto-immune disease which is characterized by fluctuating, sometimes fatal, muscle weakness. The body’s immune system, in the form of antibodies, attacks and damages the nerve signal reception areas on the muscles causing a breakdown in communication between nerve and muscle resulting in a loss of effectiveness of the muscle.

What does this mean ?

To someone affected by Myasthenia Gravis symptons vary according to the amount of activity undergone, the onset of infection or stress of any kind. As a result diagnosis by a GP is extremely difficult. Family and friends need a great deal of understanding to come to terms with a relative or friend who seems perfectly normal one moment, and a few hours, or even minutes later is droopy and listless. Simple things like eating food, lifting arms, speaking to friends or laughing, taken for granted by most of us, becomes difficult or even impossible at times for myasthenics.

The Future ?

The condition can be treated by drugs, some very powerful with unpleasant side effects, but there is no cure at present. Some research is underway but major drug manufacturers have yet to take a significant interest, possibly due to the relatively small numbers of people affected and thus likely the small number of sales of any treatment developed.