Abdullah Kassim, a Year 2 student at KMMS, has brought together Kent Sport, the Parkinson’s Centre for Integrated Therapy (PCIT), Canterbury Table Tennis Club (CTTC), and the international charity PingPongParkinson (PPP) in a collaborative series of events to raise awareness about the benefits of playing table tennis for people with Parkinson’s disease.
Abdullah’s interest in the link between Parkinson’s and table tennis began during his first-year placement, where he met a man living with the condition who stayed active through boxing, yoga, and football. Feeling inspired, Abdullah recognised a gap in accessible activities across Kent and set out to bridge it by organising a series of inclusive events.
He reached out to Nenad Bach, founder of PingPongParkinson, an international charity with over 300 local groups in 25 countries and brought their expertise in structuring sessions involving warmups, strength training, rallying, coaching, and social interaction to Kent.
As President of the University of Kent’s Table Tennis Society, Abdullah combined his passions for the sport, Parkinson’s, and medicine to create a series of engaging events that highlighted the positive link between table tennis and Parkinson’s, fostering awareness and a newfound community.
Abdullah Kassim hosting a talk in Pears Lecture Theatre
Through a mixture of talks and coaching workshops, organised in partnership with PCIT and Kent Sport, Abdullah’s work culminated in a Social Table Tennis Charity Event, held on Saturday 14th June at the Prince of Wales Youth Club in Canterbury. With support from CTTC, the event featured coaching, a singles and doubles tournament, as well as inclusive play for all ages and abilities.
Getting people involved and building a sense of community is a great thing to be part of.
Francis Ball, playing Table Tennis at the Parkinson’s Centre for Integrated Therapy (PCIT)
One of the participants of the charity event, University of Kent alumnus and donor Francis Ball, diagnosed with Parkinson’s eight years ago, shared his enthusiasm:
“It’s like I felt more switched on, more focused when I’m playing table tennis. The social interaction side of events like these is important as well. Some people who live with this condition not only get isolated but tend to avoid social interaction altogether. Getting people involved and building a sense of community is a great thing to be part of.”
Many attendees on the day found the tournament to be both intensive yet fun, with one participant sharing, “Playing table tennis actually gets me thinking and moving, which I didn’t expect”.
The event successfully raised £257 in support of both PingPongParkinson (PPP) and the Parkinson’s Centre for Integrated Therapy (PCIT)
Looking ahead, Abdullah hopes to collaborate with PCIT on an Independent Research Project (IRP), a research project KMMS students undertake in Year 3 and 4 of their medical degree, exploring the benefits of table tennis for people with Parkinson’s.
A video compilation of the event is now available to watch on YouTube.