A charity that supports people who suffer from motor neurone disease has marked its 30th anniversary.

South Herts Motor Neurone Disease Association celebrated three decades of helping people at its AGM this month.

Those who attended included chief executive of MNDA Sally Light, Watford Borough Council chairman Cllr Rabi Martins, St Albans Mayor Cllr Rosemary Farmer, St Francis Hospice CEO Kate Phipps-Wiltshire and Lord Lieutenant of Hertfordshire Robert Voss, as well as Watford Peace Hospice Starlight outpatient service manager Jo Marovitch, Dr Carol Scholes, patron of the South Herts branch and a consultant in palliative medicine and Isaac Moyo from Central London Community Healthcare NHS Trust.

The occasion also recognised 40 years since the charity had been formed and saw the present branch chairman Lesley Ralston and vice chairman Jennifer Hay stand down.

Mrs Ralston said: “My over-riding aim has always been to help and support those people who are living with this most horrible disease.

“It is so important to have someone at the end of a phone even if its just for a chat as a carer you feel so alone.”

The charity aims to help people who are living with motor neurone disease a condition where motor neurones cease to function leaving the patient to gradually become paralysed.

She added: “South Herts Branch need more volunteers to help them, we are looking for younger people with up to date skills which the committee unfortunately do not have at the moment.”

To donate to the South Herts Branch, go to www.mndasouthherts.org.