IT'S PARTY time at Tavistock Methodist Chapel this Saturday (January 3) when the local branch of the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign holds its annual gathering.

Youngsters with the disease will be gathering all day from 12.30pm to 7pm, playing games and catching up with friends.

In the afternoon, together with family and friends, they will meet supporters of the Tavistock branch to say thank you for their help during the year and enjoy a party tea.

Muscular Dystrophy is a muscle wasting disease, which in its most extreme form, leads to a short life expectancy — late teens to early twenties — and the need to use a wheelchair from around the age of 10.

Each year the Tavistock branch organises a holiday for young sufferers and volunteers from the town act as helpers to around 15 guests from Devon and Cornwall.

The 2008 holiday was to Alton in Hampshire. As well as being great fun for the young people it was a chance for parents and carers to have a well-earned break. The holiday project has been running for more than 30 years and has been generously supported by the people of Tavistock.