HELP is at hand for Kirklees people suffering from the debilitating illness ME.

Sixty people are members of a local organisation which offers a wealth of information and support about myalgic encephalo- myelitis, also called chronic fatigue syndrome.

The national organisation is marking ME Awareness Day tomorrow.

The condition, which was not always considered a physical illness by the medical profession, affects the muscles, brain and nervous system, resulting in fatigue and brain malfunction.

The local support group meets every two months in offices in Lord Street, Huddersfield, and a monthly coffee morning is held in the Christian Book Shop in nearby Northumberland Street.

Mrs Hilary Bickerton, chairperson of the Kirklees Independent ME Support Group, has suffered from the condition for 17 years and has been a member of the support group for 16.

She contracted ME after suffering from glandular fever.

She was diagnosed within six months of becoming ill, but with two children aged five and seven years and a husband out at work, life became a struggle.

Her turning point was a change in diet and nutritional supplements.

She is well at the moment and leads a fairly active life - but still has ME.

"It does not go away; sufferers change their lifestyles to cope with it," she said.

"Some are fortunate and with care can lead a good life," added Mrs Bickerton.

"But ME can strike people in different ways, as it involves a number of symptoms."

To join the group phone 07799 407 490.

* Richard was diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome in 2002, when he was 36.

He says:

"Like many ME Chronic Fatigue Syndrome sufferers I do not know exactly how I became ill.

"It was a combination of factors, my medical history, my job, my lifestyle, my personality type.

"The illness affected every aspect of my life, physically and mentally."

Richard said he has to rely heavily on his wife in every area of his daily life.

He added: "It's easy to look at me and see a fit and healthy individual.

"It is perhaps easy to think there is nothing wrong with me, that it is all in the mind.

"I only wish it were. I don't want to be ill," he added.

"I want to feel well enough to go back to work, to feel I am doing something useful."