Going orange for MS Awareness Week
Orkney MS Society supporters gathered at the Cathedral tonight in support of MS Week. From l to r: Allan Jamieson, George Hannah, Bruce Gorie, Pam Gorie, Victoria Wallhead, Jason Wallhead, Sarah Wallhead, Anne Stevenson and Margaret Keenan.
(Photo: Tom O’Brien/ www.theorcadianphotos.co.uk)
People and businesses in Orkney have been sporting orange to mark MS Awareness Week.
Between April 22 and 28 multiple sclerosis charities seek to raise awareness of the condition and the work of the volunteers and organisations who help all those affected by MS.
In Orkney, a number of shops have been sporting fetching, orange window displays, while St Magnus Cathedral was bathed in orange light last night.
The Orcadian will also be showing its support for MS Awareness week as we go orange and dedicate some of the pages in this Thursday’s edition to the stories of those living with the condition and the efforts of local charities.
Orkney is sometimes referred to as “the MS capital of the world”, as research published in 2012 showed that, among the population in the county, there is an unusually high prevalence of the condition.
The research showed that the rate of probable or definite MS per 100,000 people in Orkney was found to be 402 — to put this in perspective the same statistic for Shetland was 295 and for Aberdeen was 229.