Thank you for visiting my Just Giving page for the ME Association.  

I have had ME (Myalgic Encephalopathy), or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, (http://www.meassociation.org.uk/about/what-is-mecfs/) for nearing 18 months though I was only diagnosed 2 months ago.  I am told by medical professionals that I am "in the early stages of the illness".  The only support the NHS is able to provide is a 12-week group counselling course on managing the symptoms of ME; I am currently on the waiting list.  There is as yet no medical treatment.

Given that full recovery, which only happens for a very small proportion of ME sufferers, is more likely if the illness is diagnosed early on, there is a real need for more research into the cause(s) and cure for ME.  For me personally, a cure would bring so many benefits: 

- Certainty over my future;

- Energy to get out of the house for more than just the weekly shop; 

- The career I had worked hard for before my illness started;

- Social contact.

By taking part in The Big Issue's Big Sleep Out, I hope to raise money for this invaluable cause in the hope that others affected by ME in the future can be diagnosed quickly and offered a proven cure.  

If you would like to read more, I have included below some information from the ME Association's website on both the illness and the specific research collaboration my fund raising will be donated to.

ME ASSOCIATION

ME affects 250,000 people in UK today.  Lives are largely changed drastically: in the young, schooling and higher education can be severely disrupted; in the working population, employment becomes impossible for many. For all, social life and family life become restricted and in some cases severely strained. People may be housebound or confined to bed for months or years.  

There is currently no accepted cure and no universally effective treatment. Those treatments which have helped reduce particular symptoms in some people have unfortunately proved ineffective or even counterproductive in others. 

ME Association believes that new research represents the best chance yet of finding a test, and hopefully of developing a treatment that will make a real difference to their lives. 

Recent research in America shows that metabolomics research (examining the chemical details of cells) could help to develop a simple test, and better still, a treatment for this illness. 

 In a new UK collaboration of ME experts (Dr Karl Morten, Prof James Mccullagh & Prof Julia Newton), the ME Association hopes to develop that research, in the first significant use of samples from the newly launched UK ME/CFS Biobank to verify the initial findings, and help to better understand the molecular and biochemical basis of the disease.   

Your donation can fund this research.