Update: Now #justinesmiles Attempting to Reach Hong Kong by August 29th.

My wife, Justine passed away on Sunday 10th December 2017 after suffering a massive stroke. She is survived by our two beautiful daughters, Thea & Elsa and me.

Inspired by the strong support from so many people, we wanted to contribute further to The Stroke Association to help stroke survivors and create awareness that strokes affect younger people.  So, following the great result we all achieved at the start of 2018, we created a team of friends dubbed ‘Team Justine’ that ran together in the Great Scottish Half Marathon 2018 and Great Scottish Run 10k in 2019, increasing the funds raised to a whopping total of £18,948!

#Justines_miles to Istanbul

The difference this year is that we also want you to join us in your own way by covering any number of miles by any means to get exercise and to donate what you can to our Just Giving page in Justine’s memory for the Stroke Association. We want you to share your experiences, running with children, cycling with friends - however you choose to get involved - we want to hear about where you covered the miles and how many…

The Stroke Association have created a ‘closed’ Facebook page so that we can share our activity and provide updates on funds raised.  Please use the hashtag #Justines_miles, as we’d love to follow your photos and activity to inspire others to get involved – and help us with our mileage ‘en route’ to Istanbul!  Please spread the word by ‘tagging’ friends on social, to encourage them to get behind #Justines_miles – say donate £5 for running 5k.  The more that get involved, the better.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/677157626172946

We have also set up a Strava group to track our combined mileage.  Please contact Ruairidh MacKenzie https://www.facebook.com/mackenru

if you’d like to be added to the group.  You can also tag your miles on Strava using the #Justines_miles hashtag.

To learn more about the success of ‘Team Justine’ and our efforts to date, read the article below written by fellow teammate, Murdie Rodgers.

http://www.mynewsdesk.com/uk/stroke-association/blog_posts/murdoch-rodgers-amazing-experience-running-the-glasgow-scottish-run-as-part-of-team-justine-80082

https://www.facebook.com/bbcradioscotland/videos/2009428802430135?sfns=mo

https://www.heraldscotland.com/life_style/16904246.how-do-you-tell-your-children-their-mother-has-died/

How can our donations help?

• £50 could help The Stroke Association continue to invest in vital research to help save lives and improve the lives of stroke survivors.

• £168 buys a month’s supply of a drug tested for use in reducing brain damage after stroke.

• £100 buys a pulse monitor used in cardiovascular rehabilitation programme for stroke patients.

• £155 allows the Stroke Association to provide a stroke survivor or their carer with a grant for food, electricity, or an appliance they desperately need following a stroke.

• £52 buys the safe transportation of ten participant’s blood samples in a study looking at genetic causes of stroke.

• £10 helps to train a volunteer to take blood pressures

• £50 helps train a volunteer to provide first aid cover at stroke support groups

• £10 answers a call for help to the Stroke Helpline

• £25 could help us to develop our communication support, enabling stroke survivors to regain their confidence.

Stroke is one of the biggest health challenges of our time. It is the third largest cause of death in the UK, killing twice as many women as breast cancer and twice as many men as prostate and testicular cancer combined.

There are around 1.4 million stroke survivors in the UK.

Over half have a disability and one third rely on others for help.

25% of strokes happen to those under the age of 65