Google Parkinsons and you’re met with images of old men in cardigans.
Hardly appropriate for a disease that can affect you at any stage of your life. So it’s no wonder depression and anxiety are twice as common in the newly diagnosed. ParkyLife is here to change those perceptions and smash parky stigma. Gathering together the brightest slices of positivity from across the parkyverse, it enables the newly diagnosed to benefit from the optimism of others already living with the condition.
Starting as a side project, with no budget and created entirely in our spare time, we kicked off our campaign by creating our ParkyCards. We pulled favours with top illustrators to create a deck of 52 bespoke cards. Chock full of hacks, perks, inspiring people and funny stories, it’s ready to pick patients up, give them a laugh or a great big hearty cuddle when they need it most. But we haven’t stopped there. So far we have collaborated with over 75 illustrators from all over the world, including Stanley Chow and Malika Favre, to keep ParkyLife growing as more stories and tips come in. All hosted on our website and socials we make sure that Parky positivity is never more than a few clicks away. We’ve even hosted our own exhibition!
Overall, ParkyLife has shaken up Parky perceptions for good. To date, we’ve distributed 1500 Parky Cards to patients, carers, nurses and neurologists, from New Zealand to Canada, but this is just the beginning.
Awards:
Creative Floor Awards 2021: Gold for Illustration
The PM Awards 2021: Gold for Pro-Bono for Charity
The Drum Roses 2020: Silver for Sports/Health
The Drum Roses 2020: Bronze for Illustration
Creative team on the project:
Matt Eagles, Louise Shipley, Rob Jenkins, Angus Prior,
Alex Edwards, Nicola Fletcher, Nina Mitchell, Anna Loveland, Ant & Zoe Harris