parkando trivia event in progress with participants sitting at tables in the community room at newport community hub

About Us

ParKanDo is a grassroots peer support group run solely by
volunteers with lived experience of Parkinson’s.

Our Mission

ParKanDo’s mission is to increase the number and diversity of member identified peer support
options in Melbourne’s West.

Background

In mid-2019 four people met for coffee and a chat. Two with Parkinson’s and two carers. Even though each of their journeys was very different, they shared a great deal of enthusiasm.

The idea to form ParKanDo was born. ParKanDo is a grassroots peer support group with a difference. Formed and run by volunteers with lived experience, ParKanDo surveys members to identify preferred activities for development. ParKanDo offers activities simultaneously, via Zoom and in person (where possible).

Just 3 years after launchung in February 2020, ParKanDo won the prestigious Victorian Grassroots Volunteer Organisation Award.

The original ParKanDo members meet for a coffee and the rest is history.

Leadership Team

Image of Nene Amen, new committee member of ParKanDo

Nene Amen
committee member

After my husband Rey’s PD diagnosis in early 2025, it was as if our lives changed overnight. PD diagnosis is a life-changing thing, but it is not life-ending.

Rey is honest and comfortable in discussing his feelings, concerns, and we, as his family, will try to help manage and address changes as they arise. We try to continue to understand the disease so that we are better prepared for future changes and make informed care decisions.

I have learned the importance of a strong support system using multidisciplinary teams. Attending support groups help build a sense of community, strengthen social connection and reduce isolation.

On days that we ask, “What now?, we remind ourselves of this quote by Michael J. Fox:

“I found out that if I could accept what my situation was, and be honest about it, I could move forward. And my happiness grows in direct proportion to my acceptance.” –

Michael J. Fox

Peter Wall
co-leader

Each and every one of us performs many roles in our lives and one of mine is being a carer for my wife, Carmel.

For the most part, as carers, we see from the sidelines what effect Parkinson’s has upon those we love and care for; often feeling a sense of frustration and helplessness and asking ourselves “What more can I do?”

For me, the answer lay in helping to create ParKanDo, a Peer Support group with a difference, and actively participating in the various activities offered to our members. They are a lot of fun. Come join us!

Carmel Wall
Treasurer

I was diagnosed in 2007 after a long time of trying to make sense of a wide range of seemingly unconnected symptoms that I had been experiencing over many years.

I soon realised that exercise plus medication was the way to go, so it was with surprise and dismay to find little on offer in the west of Melbourne.

Meeting Pam and starting ParKanDo has been very rewarding not only to help me but all those who suffer from PD.

Mimi Morgan
Co-Secretary

I have recently been appointed as Co-Secretary of ParKanDo. Having worked in the tertiary education sector for over 15 years, I have considerable administrative and management experience.

Keen to raise the profile of Parkinson’s Disease in the community, I recently raised over $4,500 for Parkinson’s research. I was diagnosed in 2020 with early onset Parkinson’s and in the same year my brother passed away from PD.

Pam West
Co-Leader & Co-Secretary

My passions are my gorgeous grandsons and giving back to the local community. Keen to address the shortfall of peer support opportunities in Melbourne’s West, I became a founding member of ParKanDo.

Despite an early onset diagnosis in 2009, ParKanDo has helped me realise I still have the ability to do things; I just do them a little differently now. ParKanDo has shifted my focus from what I have lost or can’t do to what I can do and for that I am truly grateful.