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After a frustrating period of misdiagnosis, our teacher Mr Ruddick was diagnosed with lupus about 4 years ago. It turned his life upside down. As the condition worsened (despite medical input) he began to lose things precious to him one by one. Eventually the doctors took the difficult decision to retire him from work 10 months ago. He could no longer look after himself & had to move back home to the North East to his parents.

Fortunately (& to everyone's surprise) the hard work & support received paid off & his lupus was declared stable towards the end of last year. However, the doctors wanted to make sure this was not just a temporary matter so they said he needed 3 months of remission before he was allowed to return to the job he so loves. Mr Ruddick successfully returned to Passmores Academy a couple of months ago. 

A few days after being retired he promised himself & those close to him he would not let lupus win, that he would return to PE teaching & he would undertake something massive to help raise greater awareness & much needed funds for further research into this debilitating disease. He has been true to his word. September 13th 2012 sees him commence a 5 day physical endurance event with the help of a team of students & staff from school, family & friends.

Day 1 - Cycle approximately 120 miles from Alder Hey Hospital in Liverpool to Leicester.

Day 2 - Cycle another 120 miles from Leicester to St Thomas Hospital in London.

Day 3 - Row 21 miles in a boat from the Isle of Dogs to Twickenham in the Great River Race.

Day 4 - Run his first marathon of 26 miles from Twickenham to Waltham Abbey in Essex.

Day 5 - Run his second marathon of 26 miles from Waltham Abbey to Passmores Academy in Harlow, Essex.

To think that 9 months ago Mr Ruddick's father had to help him walk round the block so he could keep exercising, it is remarkable to see where he is now & what he is training to do. But we are not going to let him do this alone. Staff & students are going to accompany him along the way in a relay team, e.g: Day 1 will see 2 members of staff split the first cycling leg between them & 8 students rotating 5 miles each at a time. The following 4 days will see more individual teams of staff & students, friends & family do the same.

There is no cure for lupus & the disease can be life threatening. We want to help change this. £100,000 will see us fund a full time research nurse at St Thomas Hospital in London for 3 years via their Lupus Trust . It will also enable us to donate a further £10,000 to Lupus UK for projects specifically aimed at child lupus at Alder Hey Hospital in Liverpool. 

We have created two students teams:

The Organisation Team - approximately 60 students responsible for handling coporate funding, logistics & events. This team really has their work cut out. They will be contacting a multitude of organisations to see how they can help us, whether it be via a monetary donation or logistically, e.g: free hotel accommodation en route, sports equipment, nutrition etc.

The Phyiscal Team - approximately 40 students who are training to accompany Mr Ruddick throughout the Challenge on a relay basis. This team has a lot of training ahead of them.

No school has ever done anything like this before. We want to make a real difference. It is not going to be easy, we are acutely aware of that. However, if we all pull together, we know we can do this...... with your help. Thankyou for your generosity, every little helps.

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