Change For M.E. Change For Us

Change For M.E. Change For Us is a grassroots organisation that actively campaigns towards improved treatment and perception of people newly diagnosed and living long term with the debilitating condition known as Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, or M.E. as well as establishing a foundation for consistent research into the condition.

Change For M.E. Change For Us, founded in May 2015, aims to establish a better understanding of the condition and a more educated, reliable, trustworthy medical community. How patients are perceived by the medical profession and general public is also a vital issue the campaign works to address, as well as what treatment pathways are offered to sufferers, and asserting their right to decline treatment without enduring questioning or intervention by social services. But perhaps most importantly, the campaign aims to fight for consistent, high-quality research into the cause(s), complex symptoms and possible cure(s) of the illness.

Change For M.E. Change For Us is headed by L.A. Cooper, patient-activist who has had the condition for well over a decade. The campaign works closely with those hit by the condition across the UK and worldwide, encouraging anyone to step forward in order to ensure that the needs, wishes and requirements of the whole M.E. community are met and fought for, and establishes one clear, unified voice.

In early October 2015, L.A. Cooper traveled across the UK and interviewed six select M.E. sufferers. The interviews, detailing life with the condition, and the discrimination and neglect people with M.E. face every day, were compiled into a short film The Last Great Medical Cover Up. The film was released on 30th October 2015. It was followed by a petition calling for national reform in NICE Guidelines and funding for specialist care.