My friend's son, Morgan, (who is also son's friend!) is 5 years old and suffers from numerous health conditions; severe food allergies, Eczema, Asthma and most significantly FSGS Nephrotic Syndrome, which is a rare kidney condition. This basically affects the kidney's filtering system (glomeruli) causing scarring and loss of large amounts of protein by 'leakage' .

No one really knows why or how his various conditions are linked to each other if at all but there are studies showing nephrotic syndrome does affect allergies. Morgan's life is affected in many ways, to the extent he does not lead a normal childhood.  Amongst other things he is allergic to oats, maize, coconut, peas, potatoes, pork, dairy, egg, soya, nuts, rice, fish, tomatoes, kiwi, banana , acidic fruits and avocado....  In addition he is allergic to non-foods such as; latex so no playing on bouncy castles, with balloons or going to soft play, chlorine , so no swimming,  salt water so no sea playing or swimming at the beach, horses , dogs , cats and any furry animals.  As a result of these allergies his skin is covered in eczema and as a result of that he finds it hard to sleep properly - as do his Mum and Dad. When he can make it to school he is carried in his Daddy’s arms like a plank, wriggling and tired from a bad nights sleep. On a good day, he can sit on his shoulders.  Mostly he can’t walk on his own, his ankles and knees are swollen from the eczema, it’s too painful. He has to wear tracksuit bottoms, he can’t wear school uniform even though he wishes he could. NeST's research is groundbreaking and varied. They might not do the same thing every day, but every day they are dedicated and passionate about finding a cure for Nephrotic Syndrome, and if that happens then I think Morgan will have a better quality of life. 

So What Am I Doing?
I'll be riding with my wife and doing 600+ miles of an overall 900 mile cycle ride that Morgan's Dad and a number of other friends will be doing, from Epsom in Surrey to Nice, France over 8 days or so later this year. We'll start on September 11th and finish on Saturday September 19th. As a group we'll be raising money for both the Nephrotic Syndrome Trust and Morgans' Mission.

Please help me raise funds so I can do my bit for Morgan and other adults and children like him.

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity. So it’s the most efficient way to donate – saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

Thank you,

Dickon.