Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

Multiple System Atrophy (MSA) is a devastating terminal neurodegenerative disease for which there is no cure. Unfortunately my Dad was diagnosed with this terrible disease last year.

The MSA Trust is the only charity in the UK established to support all those affected by this disease and offers a range of services which you can read all about on their website (http://www.msatrust.org.uk/). The Trust is also the UK's primary funder of research into both a cause and a cure to this devastating neurodegenerative disease. All of their services are offered free of charge. The Trust receives no statutory funding whatsoever and relies entirely on voluntary donations.

You will probably not know that I used to swim competitively for my county (Leicestershire), my Mum & Dad have given up many evenings & weekends for me in the past to take me to training & competitions. I have decided to do a sponsored 5k swim (200 lengths in a standard 25m pool) in order to try & raise some money for the MSA Trust & also to help raise awareness.

A very generous company SWIMSHOP.CO.UK are supplying me with a personalised swim hat with the MSA Trust logo on it (free of charge!) to help me raise awareness whilst I am training in the pool & doing the actual event.

I appreciate times are tough at the moment, this cause is something that is very close to my heart & I would really appreciate any support & donations you are able to give. "How would donations help the Trust" I hear you say, well here are some figures; £10 could supply detailed information to the healthcare team caring for one person with MSA; £20 could provide welcome support packs for three families affected by MSA; £50 could cover the cost of venue hire & refreshments for one regional MSA support group meeting; £150 could cover the cost of manning the telephone and email helpline; £500 could supply an MSA nurse at two specialist MSA Clinics; £1,000 could pay for the support line for one whole week; £2,500 could deliver teaching sessions to health and care professionals for six months; £100,000 could fully cover the annual commitment to new research.

For my swim I have set a target of £200 (£1 per length), please help me to reach that by donating what you can - every little helps!