Volunteer Stories – Annie Smart

Our volunteers are crucial in helping us change lives. The roles are varied – from organising and hosting Meetups, volunteering at our Information Days, supporting our online communities and much more; they provide dedicated support to the PKD Community across the UK and we are so grateful for their tremendous support.

Today, meet our amazing volunteer Annie Smart from London:

“I volunteer for the charity by hosting our local meetups; pre-covid we met in a cafe in London every 3 months, currently it's on zoom every 2 months. In March 2020 I volunteered for World Kidney Day, where we went round London attractions with a 6ft yellow kidney! This was to raise awareness (which we did)!

I volunteer to raise awareness for this disease, which the majority of the population know nothing about. Also to support people with the disease and answer any questions I can regarding this unknown disease, and I can talk about my personal experiences.

My favourite thing about volunteering is when you can help someone with the diagnose, either by my own experiences or by answering questions that are concerning them. I find that the most recurring question is about starting on Tolvaptan. I have been on this drug for 4 years now so I am able to talk about my own experiences.”

Thank you so much Annie - we're so honoured to have you as a PKD Charity Volunteer!