Lord Julian Fellowes shares personal Volunteers' Week message
Lord Julian Fellowes, Honorary President of the National Tremor Foundation, shares a personal message for Volunteers’ Week, reflecting on his experience of living with Essential Tremor and thanking the volunteers and supporters whose kindness and compassion make a real difference to people living with the condition
Lord Julian Fellowes, Honorary President of the NTF
The first of June is the start of a week that has been designated as Volunteer Week, a time when we can all be reminded of how very much we owe to the men and women who decide to give their time to those who need them, without any reward beyond the sense that they have done something worthwhile. I admire them a great deal, as I am sure most of us do, for there is no doubt that a sense of being disabled, limited, or powerless can be a difficult thing to overcome, and it is a lonely place to find oneself in.
I have taken an interest in those suffering from Essential tremor for the simple reason that I am one of them. When it started, some years ago, I spent a lot of time "in denial," as the Americans might say, blaming tiredness or illness or lack of concentration, when the truth was that I had developed a tremor which was noticeable when I was speaking on television or at some public function, and I had to learn to live with it. Cutting things, wrapping things, drinking a cup of coffee, holding a glass at a party, even tying my tie, all became challenges that others would notice, whatever I might pretend to myself.
I have had treatment now, which may have improved it, although I am inclined to think that what made a real improvement was my ceasing to care whether others noticed or not. But I have spent some lonely times getting here, and I am all the more grateful to those who have helped quietly, discreetly, unobtrusively. They have allowed me to retain a bit of self-respect when I really needed it, and I have no hesitation in thanking them from the bottom of my heart.
