ST HELENS has made sure that it is raising awareness of Tourette's and supporting residents with the condition by lighting the Steve Prescott Bridge up in green.
The green lighting is part of a national campaign from the Tourette's Action charity as today marks Tourette's Awareness Day (Wednesday, June 7).
The campaign is particularly relevant locally as a St Helens mum has been tirelessly fighting for further treatments and research into Tourtette's after her son was diagnosed with the condition in 2015.
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Emma McNally, from Sutton, gained tens of thousands of signatures for her online petition two years ago, after her son was left without any local support once an Alder Hey specialist retired.
The aim was to raise awareness of Tourette's, which causes involuntary sounds and movements called tics, while also demanding an increase in funding to ensure sufferers always have access to local support and treatment.
After encouraging her MP Conor McGinn to raise the issue in Parliament and appearing on national news programmes to raise the issue, Emma has since been appointed as CEO of Tourette's Action to raise further awareness of the condition.
As Tourette's Awareness Day falls between a month of campaigning, Emma and Tourette's Action have been encouraging towns and cities to light landmarks in green to spread the word about Tourette's and reduce the stigma behind it.
The mum is trying to get people to understand that the condition affects around 1 in 100 school-age children, who have had vocal or multiple tics for more than a year, rather than involuntary swearing or profane outbursts.
Emma McNally, said: “It’s shocking that a condition so prevalent is still so badly misunderstood. More than 300,000 people in the UK are known to have Tourette’s.
"Research tells us that many people will experience discrimination because of their Tourette’s and 75% of people will actively conceal their condition for fear of discrimination and public perception.
"People with Tourette’s often feel isolated and excluded because the level of awareness in society is so low. It’s our goal to change that.
"We want to use Tourette’s Awareness Month to help raise awareness of the condition, to stop the stigma and enable people who live with Tourette’s to be fully included in society."
Awareness days such as the #TurnItGreen project as well as the #ItWhatMakesMeTic campaign on social media are hoped to raise awareness, change public attitudes and kickstart more conversations on the misunderstood condition.
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