Editorial Board Member (Progress Research Magazine - Home-based)

We are looking for volunteers to sit on the Progress editorial board, alongside staff from the Research Communications Team at Parkinson’s UK. Progress is our annual research magazine, designed to inform and engage the reader with the latest Parkinson’s research. We’re always striving to make the content as engaging and accessible as possible for our audience, and we need your help!

We are looking for people with Parkinson’s or their loved ones to help shape our magazine. We are particularly interested in hearing from people who can offer the perspective of the following:

• Being newly diagnosed (within the past 2 years)

• Living with young onset Parkinson’s (diagnosed under the age of 50)

• Being from a Black, Asian, Arab or mixed heritage background

• Living in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland

Please note that volunteers don't need any science knowledge or background, or experience of research to apply - we really want the magazine to be relevant and interesting for all.

The role of the editorial board is to share initial content suggestions, review drafts, and comment on how the magazine looks. If interested, the board members may help with interviews and help contribute to articles. We would also encourage the editorial board members to engage with their local Parkinson’s community to find ideas for relevant stories, and we can help you get started with this if required.

We'd like volunteers to commit to being involved in 2 issues of the magazine, over a 2 year period. Each issue is likely to require around 8 hours of the volunteer’s time (including attending online meetings and preparation time). The role is flexible and we try to book meetings well in advance and schedule them at the best time for the group. We also encourage people to give feedback via email or over the phone if they can’t attend a group meeting.

We are hoping to get together as a volunteer group in June 2025 and hope our new volunteers will be able to join us. Volunteer expenses will be covered for this in person activity, this includes childcare costs.

Testimonial from Nicky: Nicky joined the Progress editorial board in 2022. She shared: “My journey with Parkinson’s began just before the first COVID-19 lockdown. Despite being surrounded by a hugely supportive family, at the beginning it was incredibly lonely. Almost a year after my diagnosis, I was still trying to come to terms with the situation. So I Googled ‘Parkinson’s’, literally for the first time, and it came up with Parkinson’s UK. I then did loads of exploring of the website. I started looking at research and I thought, ‘I want to help make a difference and I want to learn more’. My role on the Progress editorial board is using my personal experiences of Parkinson’s to help other members. We help to develop the magazine and decide what to put in it. I love the fact that everybody listens to our views, because everybody is so different. Everyone's diagnosis, symptoms or experience varies, it works really well. I think that’s the value. The first highlight was having my name in the magazine as part of the editorial team. My children were like ‘wow look’! It was a very proud moment. For me, being a research volunteer is a perfect way to make the most of the diagnosis. There are going to be some people who won't feel as positive. I certainly wasn’t as positive at the beginning as I am now, But I feel more confident to be positive because of what I found and what I gained from Parkinson’s UK.”

Find out more about Progress and download past issues on the Parkinson's UK website.