Wakefield poet with Parkinson's disease publishes collection to raise funds to help find cure

Jan Sargeant’s self-published new book Still Dancing is a collection of her work from the last 18 months.

Jan, from Sandal, said: “I’ve been writing poetry for years and years and posted a few on the Parkinson's support group I run when one member said they would love to have a book of them.

“Most of them are relatively new and they are not all about Parkinson’s. They’re about life and its challenges, love and getting on with things.

“It is not a depressing book where you feel sorry for people with this awful illness, if anything it's full of hope and applicable to anyone who is dealing with challenges in life with physical or mental health problems.

"It is hopefully a of way saying ‘we have these challenges but we rise above them’. The human spirit is stronger than we give it credit for.”

It is available on Amazon and all money made will go towards research.

Jan added: “The important thing is that the poetry book is raising funds for Parkinson’s and I am proud of that. It's a gift I can give to the Parkinson’s community.

“It's a book full of hope. In this day and age we all need a bit of hope.

“I called it Still Dancing because in my mind I'm still dancing even though I can't move very well and I fall over.”

Earlier this year, Jan, who was diagnosed in 2016, addressed MPs in Westminster about the struggles faced by people with the disease.

As a representative for charity Parkinson’s UK she spoke to the Minister for Disabled People Tom Pursglove as well as MPs Peter Dowd and Peter Aldous about the ways that disabled people are disadvantaged.

Later this summer another book of Jan’s will be published, this time about a miserable man from County Durham.

Alan’s Lesswilling Chronicles: The Monologues of an Unhappy Man will be released on August 18.

Jan was a teacher then a deputy head, followed by lead advisor for school improvement in North Yorkshire secondary schools, and from 2012 worked at Leeds Trinity University, training teachers.