GOLFERS in West Devon are being asked to club together and back a special tournament on?April 25 to raise funds in the fight against Parkinson's disease.

Parkinson's affects one person in every 500, or around 120,000 people in the UK, and two members of Tavistock Golf Club in particular are grateful to the work of the charity Parkinson's UK, whose research is paving a way to find a cure for this debilitating condition.

The main symptoms of Parkinson's are tremor, rigidity and slowness of movement and those with the condition can suffer tiredness, pain and depression on a daily basis.

Patrick Stewart, one of the tournament organisers, is part of a study by Birmingham University — PD Rehab — which is looking into the effect of the disease on a sufferer's everyday life.

Patrick, aged 72, told the Times: 'Hopefully, they can find a cure as quickly as possible if not for me and my generation then the next.

'By playing in this tournament and helping raise money for PD research you will be helping towards a cure or prevention for a disease which unfortunately affects so many people.

Most people who get Parkinson's are aged 50 or over but younger people can get it too. One in 20 is under the age of forty.

Fellow organiser Mark Hoar, aged 48, was diagnosed when he was 39.

It came as a shock to Mark, who in 2002 and married with three young children, was a police constable patrolling West Devon.

After the initial shock of the diagnosis, he decided that life would go on regardless. He went on to become a police sergeant in 2006 and now leads a team of 12 constables working in the Force Enquiry Centre at Crownhill.

Mark said: 'I don't think of Parkinson's as an illness — it's a nuisance that slows me down and makes me tired but it does not stop me doing anything I want to do. I play golf as often as my work allows me too — I don't let my Parkinson's stop me from playing.

The tournament, sponsored by Spring House Residential Care Home, Peter Tavy, is a fun day of golf. The cost is £80 per team, with a free bacon sandwich for all participants — hopefully the only slice that day!

For more information call Jill Millichamp on 01822 616512 or email [email protected]">[email protected] or Sue Stewart on 01822 617453, email [email protected]">[email protected]