A large number of the population have chronic kidney disease and this is only going to get worse as we put on weight and live longer. Whilst it is more likely to affect you when you get older, all ages are at risk and can develop kidney failure needing dialysis and possibly a kidney transplant. We are looking for kidneys to last a lifetime with our research.

Nik and I are cycling the North Coast 500 in the Scottish Highlands over the course of eight days. It's a 750km route (94km/day, plus any detours/wrong turns) that includes over 8400m of climbing (pretty much the height of Everest). We're going up the highest climb in the UK (Bealach na Ba), the weather forecast is terrible, it's peak midge season, and we're carrying all our camping gear on our bikes. Please give generously!

You can follow our progress on Strava - https://www.strava.com/athletes/16943562