Rights Now! march - Saturday 31 March 2001

As part of our continuing efforts to raise awareness of our campaign for beta interferon for people with MS, members of Jooly's Joint, some of our friends and our houseband Paseo Malanga joined other disabled people on a march through central London on 31 March 2001.

Here are some pictures from the march. You will see Jooly with Jooly's Joint members Kate and Barry.

At Jooly's Joint we get by with a little help from our friends. This is my good friend Tony. Tony doesn't have MS, but he has accompanied us on 2 protest marches and has taken all the pictures you see on this page.

We all owe a big thank you to Tony, Karen, Bernie and Paseo Malanga for their support. It's hard for people with MS to attend these events. Our friends give up their precious spare time to support us, and on behalf of all MSers I thank them a thousand times over.

The march lasted for approximately 30 minutes. We walked at a leisurely pace, but there were still some very stiff and sore legs by the end of the day.

This is Jooly, holding aloft a banner that reads 'Don't ban the drugs we need'. We always march wearing our Jooly's Joint t-shirts.

Many disability groups took part in the demonstration, which took us around Westminster and eventually to Trafalgar Square.

Along the route Jooly was interviewed by a journalist from the Socialist Worker. There was a lot of press interest in our campaign.

Paseo Malanga lead the march and were terrific support as always. Here's Bernie playing his flute.

Our procession was long and winding.

There was barely time to take in our surroundings as we marched past Downing Street.

Our route took us past the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben.

Playing and marching can't be easy, but Paseo Malanga manage to sing and dance too!

This is Margaret Hodge, Minister for Disabled People. She and representatives from other political parties addressed the crowds from a platform in Trafalgar Square.

Ever seen Trafalgar Square without traffic? The police blocked the rounds so our procession could cross to the square in safety, playing all the way.

How can Bernie march and smile and play the sax at the same time? He must have a strong pair of lungs!

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