WAMES AGM 2023: hope for the future
Our annual business meeting on 17th June 2023 celebrated the first signs of hope that services for people with ME/CFS in Wales might be on the horizon. Many times over the years we have wondered if years of raising awareness about ME and calling for appropriate services might ever produce a positive result for our ignored community.
Service development
The unfortunate rise in the post viral illness of long COVID and the long awaited revised NICE guideline means that there is now a more receptive climate in the NHS and an authoritative roadmap for the future.
WAMES has been busy sharing with Welsh Government and Health Boards the needs and experiences of people living with ME, as funding has been allocated and plans are being made to include ME/CFS in health services.
Information sharing
Advocating for services is why WAMES was set up in 2001, but we quickly realised that families affected by ME in Wales also needed information, not just about our illness, but also about general services and ways to influence those services and our society, so we set up a website and newsletter. Our information sharing these days focuses on our news blog, helpline, twitter and Facebook, and we have recently added an e-newsletter and Instagram page.
Our website has been looking increasingly tired and dated so we launched a fundraising campaign which has got off to a good start.
The team
All this has taken place with a dwindling volunteer team. Just imagine what we could do with more help!
- Chair & Campaigns coordinator: Jan Russell
- Acting secretary: Tony Thompson
- Acting treasurer: Liz Chandler
- Youth & Care Officer, Media Contact & Helpline Coordinator: Sylvia Penny
- Volunteering Coordinator: Sharon Williams
- Communications Team volunteers: Jacob; Mia; Michelle; Caitlin
WAMES is different to many ME charities. We don’t exist to support each other and we don’t work for members and provide them with lots of services. Instead, we all work together to improve the quality of 
life for ALL people affected by ME in Wales. We do this with a small number of people and a limited budget.
All our volunteers have health issues and other commitments but we can all make a valuable contribution when working as a Team and sharing the workload.
Join us at this particularly exciting time for ME in Wales!
We need:
Treasurer; Secretary; WordPress volunteer (to help run the new website); Fundraising volunteers; Remote Office manager; Admin volunteers; Communications volunteers.
Get in touch: sharon@wames.org.uk jan@wames.org.uk
Help us…. Make a difference for ME in Wales!
gets? | WAMES (Working for ME in Wales)
