As you may know, my father in law was diagnosed with motor neurone disease roughly 2 years ago - just before the birth of my daughter. My wife and I have found it tough navigating new parenthood alongside grieving the inevitable loss of someone we hold so close to our hearts.

Despite his diagnosis, my father in law has managed to maintain a positive outlook on life and it certainly hasn't slowed him down. He recently hit a huge milestone of attending over 1,000 gigs - that was not a typo - and his busy social calendar is more jammed packed than almost anyone I know.

Determined to get myself back into shape, I recently started the Couch to 5K. Feeling overly confident after a rather wheezy first "jog", I decided to immediately sign up to walk 100km over two days along the Thames path. Something I am now thoroughly regretting after realising just how far that really is after discovering it is ONLY 37km from my front door to Shoreham beach.

I never thought we would need to use the services of the MNDA, but we are all so grateful that they exist and for everything they have done - not just for my father in law, but for our entire wider family.

Therefore I would like to ask for your support in raising funds for this amazing charity, so that they can continue the great work that they do for the people and their families battling this cruel disease.