Parkinson Projects - Wendy van Wijk
Explore Wendy's Inspiring Parkinson Projects
Discover the impactful projects Wendy has been a part of in the Parkinson community.
2024
Nikolas Koukoulakis supported in the first set-up of his black-white photobook Parkinson's Faces Project. Listen further to the video.
Podcast TogetherforSharon
In March a podcast with TogetherforSharon about my magazine and the Woman and Parkinson Event.
World Parkinson's Day
Press attention:
April 10 article in de Telegraaf.
April 11 article in de Libelle
Ambassador Parkinsonfonds
By interviewing people supporting Parkinsonfonds and researcher to give this fund more attention and interested to read. Doing what I can for the events and getting donations like the Parkinson Boxing Event, Poetry for Parkinson's and so on.
Woman and Parkinson Event 2024
A fantastic day which gave the women a smile while they were going home at the end of the day. This year 50 women attend. Success! Looking forwrd to arrange another day in 2025.
Already 3 magazines online. The next magazine will be available around Christmas and can be read online for free.
Parkinson Boxing Event At this event, I'll have a stall to provide information about my magazine and the Women and Parkinson event.
2023
In the vibrant year of 2023, In addition to Dutch magazines, there are now also English magazines, along with the new glossy website, www.wendysparkinson.com. A year to be proud of once again.
The absolute highlight of the year was the Women and Parkinson event at De Dikkenberg Recreation Park, made possible by Samantha Vizentin’s generous offer of the venue. A heartfelt thank you goes out to the sponsors, including De Dikkenberg Recreation Park, Cue2Walk, Rock Steady Boxing, Boston Scientific, who supported this event. Those who wish to support the Women and Parkinson event in 2024 are warmly invited to get in touch.
“The women at the Women & Parkinson Event all appeared so relaxed and enjoyed being together with only women for the day. A sun-filled day with women dressed in bright, summery outfits, and a stylist who did their hair and makeup. It was fantastic to have organized this!” And of course, the beautiful magazine with the Women’s Special that was released at the end of October. It's great to bring attention to women with Parkinson's in this way.
As if that wasn't enough, Togetherforsharon conducted an inspiring interview and wrote a beautiful article, now available on the website. The meeting with the group Living with Parkinson Daily Live was also special, resulting in valuable connections.
The icing on the cake is my new website, a colorful platform called “Inspiring each other positively and learning from one another,” filled with magazines, videos, and interviews. Visit www.wendysparkinson.com to discover all of this.
And if that wasn’t enough, I participated in the poetry competition hosted by ParkinsonFonds, which led to special conversations during the final evening. You can now listen to the accompanying poem here.
With a preview of 2024, where some plans are already taking shape, I wish everyone a wonderful new year filled with many moments of joy. What will 2024 bring for us?
2022
This year, I achieved something I never thought possible.
With my 5.5-year diagnosis of Parkinson’s, I’ve simply become an entrepreneur, with wonderful clients I get to work with! How cool is that?
But that’s not all—I’ve started my own magazine, receiving such beautiful feedback and appreciation. It’s already a success, with almost 1,850 viewers for the Christmas edition.
I already have fun ideas for new magazines and how to make them even more successful. This gives me such a good feeling and energy!
I’m amazed at what I’ve managed to accomplish all on my own.
It’s so wonderful to write stories for and with my fellow Parkinson’s patients, where they can draw positivity, find recognition, and get detailed information.
And yes, for the first time, I made a podcast with Annelien Oosterbaan and host Reinout Slee. De Werkwaarde podcast. That was a whole new experience. And once again, I'm so proud. I did that!
Early next year, there will be a new logo for my online magazine. I've found an illustrator for my magazine. More on that in a few weeks!
2021
It all started in January. Margreet from RTV Utrecht called me for a TV interview! I was also pampered with a delicious dinner. My kids were in on the surprise. They took care of heating up and serving the treats. Thank you, Tessa and Anna! I thoroughly enjoyed that evening. And it also became my TV debut! You can still watch the broadcast via:
Ziek in coronatijd: 'Ik wil niet altijd angstig zijn' - RTV Utrecht
On April 11th, World Parkinson’s Day, Anja and I were surprised with the wonderful podcast together with Rollz. You can watch it again here: https://youtu.be/8xaT56Ax_GE
And how about my lovely interview in Mijn Geheim? The editor told me, "It’s going to be 5 pages." I couldn’t believe what I was hearing—I jumped for joy!
And then there were also the volunteer awards. I recorded a fun video together with Dike and Marjan. I also took the initiative to nominate people for the Passion Award by recording a video message. It was wonderful—I received several beautifully recorded videos in return. During the volunteer awards, I won the Passion Award, and a few of the people I nominated also received the award.
So amazing—on September 11th, I got a call from Frank asking if I wanted to organize the book launch for Bas Bloem and Jorrit Hoff. Of course, I wanted to do it! But it had to be organized within three weeks. “Oh well,” I said, “that should be doable.” And so it was. On Saturday, October 9th, I headed to Houten. The day was scheduled with two book presentation sessions. And it was fantastic! Everything went smoothly that day. It was such a great experience to organize this event for Jorrit Hoff and Bas Bloem.
And in September, there was the event in Gouda. It was my dream to one day organize an event in Gouda. I spent my childhood there and still love the city with its beautiful old buildings. Everyone had a great time again. It was wonderful to organize this for other Yoppers, providing them with a fun day and the opportunity to talk with each other, which is so valuable.
Thank you, Restaurant De Engel. Within just one day, both sessions (a total of 200 guests) were fully booked. It was a beautiful day that will always stay with me. And thank you to everyone who was there.
Every year, you wonder, what will I do next year? Could it be just as wonderful a year? You think, “That seems almost impossible.”