The main branch of West Hertfordshire Parkinson’s Disease Society, which is based in Watford, attracts between 50 and 100 people to its monthly meetings.

However, the Borehamwood group, formed in April this year and funded by the main branch, has been averaging only two or three participants in addition to its organisers.

Parkinson’s is a progressive neurological disorder which affects movements such as walking, talking and writing.

It is caused by a reduction in the nerve cells which produce a chemical called dopamine, which allows messages to be sent to the parts of the brain controlling movement. Without sufficient levels of dopamine, these parts of the brain cannot function normally. The main symptoms of Parkinson’s are tremors, stiffness and slow movements.

Approximately 120,000 people have the disorder in the UK, and half a million family members and carers live with someone who has the disease.

Ros Aldridge, volunteer welfare officer for the West Hertfordshire branch, has been working with the charity for more than ten years.

She said: “When people belong to a group, they seem to do much better. They have all the contacts, they have support, their carers get other people to talk to and exchange ideas and I think it’s hugely beneficial.

“We realised that people from Borehamwood were finding it very difficult to come to the monthly branch meetings in Watford.”

Around 40 people in the Borehamwood area are registered with the West Hertfordshire branch, though according to the Parkinson’s Disease Society, it is thought there are many more sufferers living in the area, as 10,000 people are diagnosed with the disease each year in the UK.

Mrs Aldridge said: “Despite many people saying they wish they could get together, nobody really comes. We may have to close it and try to bus people in to the monthly meetings in Watford.”

Veronica Delaperelle, 64, who lives in Caishowe Road, Borehamwood, is part of the group’s organising committee. She said: “I put notices in the library every month and in the civic offices and we’ve taken them round to doctors’ surgeries and asked them to display them on noticeboards.

“The Watford group sent out letters to everybody in the area to advise them that this group was going to start up here so I really don’t think there’s anything else we can do.”

Mrs Delaperelle, who suffers with Parkinson’s, outlined the impact closure would have.

She explained: “It would mean that people like me, who don’t go out, will be left at home without meeting other people. It would leave you very lonely.”

Carole Warren, 62, of Hunter Close, Borehamwood, has had Parkinson’s for six years. She first discovered the group through an advertisement in the Borehamwood & Elstree Times and, for her, the meetings offer friendship and support.

She said: “Parkinson’s seems like a hiddenproblem. No one seems to know or talk about it much. It’s probably because we’re older people, although younger people do get it.”

Mrs Warren believes the low attendance could bedue to people not knowing about the group, or being scared of seeing others whose conditions were more advanced.

But she added: “We’re not unfriendly, we’re not going to do anything terrible, so don’t be afraid. But if you’ve got it, you’ve got to live with it so you’ve got to be positive about it.”

The Borehamwood support group meets on the fourth Wednesday of each month at 1.30pm in the hall of St Michael’s and All Angels Church, in Brook Road. The next meeting is on Wednesday.

For more information, contact Eileen on 020 8207 6874 or Veronica on 020 8953 5369.