The Motor Neurone Disease (MND) Association’s Incurable Optimism campaign highlights the amazing and positive spirit of the MND Association community and those affected by MND and how this spirit keeps us fighting the disease. We believe this spirit makes all of us incurable optimists. MND is incurable, but so is our optimism.
Patrick the Optimist, fronted our first Incurable Optimism campaign, he has now handed over the baton to Alistair Banks.
Former teacher Alistair was diagnosed with MND in 2010. He's married to Alice and has two children Freya, 3 and Finn, 7. Just as Patrick was determined to spread a message of incurable optimism through his art, now Alistair wants to do the same through his music.
To learn more about Alistair and his challenge to make an album with his friends to help raise awareness of MND, follow him at www.alistairtheoptimist.org; on facebook at www.facebook.com/alistairtheoptimist and on twitter at @altheoptimist
Connect with Alistair and share in his life and in his mission to raise awareness of MND, and of course encourage everyone to be incurable optimists!
Alistair Banks appeared on Channel 5s The Wright Stuff Extra with Gabby Logan.
The presenter for the day, Kaye Adams, spoke to Alistair about living with the disease and his challenge to write and record an album.
Alistair’s interview begins 26 mins 30 secs into the programme. It is available from Friday 9 September 2011 until Wednesday 14 September 2011.
Read Alistair's powerful interview with The Independent newspaper. The article was published inthe newspaper on Tuesday 26 July 2011.
Billboard posters
On 13 June 2011, Alistair the Optimist billboard posters will go up across England and Wales to raise awareness of MND.
They will be on display across the London Underground and the National Rail Network.
Alistair introduces his campaign on BBC Radio 5 Live. Listen again to Alistair's interview on 5Live Weekend Breakfast. His interview starts 0.49.00 minutes in.
