In September, I’m completing a 50km challenge to raise money for the MND Association charity. This is a charity that is very close to my heart as my mum herself was diagnosed with MND in 2023 so I have seen first-hand how much this disease can affect a person’s life and the people around them. MND is an absolutely devastating disease however my mum has handled it with such grace and strength. She still enjoys the beauty of life by not letting it stop her going on holidays and her love for music and nature. Whilst navigating this scary and unknown change she has still been my absolute rock and been the loving, selfless woman and mum she has always been. She is such a beautiful person inside and out and is a constant reminder to me how being kind is the bravest thing of all.

Motor neurone disease (MND) is a progressive disease that attacks the motor neurones, or nerves, in the brain and spinal cord. This means messages gradually stop reaching muscles, which leads to weakness and wasting. MND can affect how you walk, talk, eat, drink and breathe.

The charity supports those living with MND by providing grants to help with people’s quality of life which my mum has benefitted from with funding for hydrotherapy which she is currently enjoying and benefitting from. They also provide advice and support for families and carers as well as spreading more awareness about this rare disease.

There’s no cure for MND and that’s why the MND association need donations to help fund research to find out more about the causes of the disease and to hopefully create more treatments in the future.

On September 28th, myself and my friends will be completing this challenge for my mum.

Examples of where the funding goes:

£160 could fund a specialist communication app for a tablet/smartphone/laptop to enable a person with MND to continue to communicate with loved ones

£280 could fund the co-ordination of care for a person with MND at a care centre for a year

£1000 could pay for detailed analysis of the DNA of someone with MND to help us better understand the causes of the disease