Asking your MP for support

The All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Fibromyalgia has been working since 2001 to raise awareness of fibromyalgia.  This is not an easy task but one in which we can all help to make this possible.  Although there are a number of MPs already signed up to this APPG, many have never even heard of the condition.  This is where we come in!

It is up to all of us to contact our MP in order to make him/her aware of the problems encountered by FM sufferers and asking them to attend the APPG meetings in order to learn more about the condition.    

According to the document ‘You and your MP’ published by the House of Commons Information Office, an MP’s role is to ‘help their constituents by advising on problems (particularly those that arise from the work of government departments), representing the concerns of their constituents in Parliament and acting as a figurehead for the local area’.

So, if you are unable to attend the APPG in person due to either health or distance, contact your MP and ask them to represent you at the meetings.  Obviously the more requests an MP receives from his/her constituents the more likely they are to take up your case. Even if you can make the APPG yourself you can still ask your MP to attend to support you.

Why not visit one of your MP's local surgeries to discuss the problems of living with FM and any problems you have with the Benefits Office?  It would be much easier to get your point across face to face.  Alternatively you can ring the local constituency office and speak to one of your MP's team or, if you are lucky, even your MP.   It is worth noting that MPs receive hundreds of letters a day for one reason or another and almost as many requests to attend APPGs so they need a good reason to attend ours.  Dates for the APPG meetings can be found on the APPG page.

At the launch of the APPG on 13^th March 2001 the two main objectives were:

1.      To make all MPs aware of FM and its problems
2.      To encourage research into the diagnosis and treatment of FM. 

Objective 2 will be difficult to achieve unless we have achieved Objective 1 so remember.....

If we don't make our voices heard then no one will know there is a problem.  If we want others to help us, we must be prepared to help ourselves by proactively working to make this happen. 

You could also contact your local television news channel/press to ask them to cover the event, after all a lot of cameras are there a lot of the time and our cause is as good as the next, that could also help raise awareness.

Editors Note:
There was a previous article urging people to contact their MP's by letter, but it has been discovered that letter campaigns such as these can be given less weight by MP's. As such this article hopes to encourage other ways that we can galvanise support among parliament.

You can find out your local MP or councillor by visiting this site and entering your post code

Last Updated on Sunday, 15 May 2011 13:31 Created: Tuesday, 17 April 2007 07:29