We are Kathy, Mark, Hope and Danny and over the next 41 days, we will be walking 820,000 steps in support of action for ME.

Kathy is currently undergoing the process for a formal diagnosis of ME following a year of suffering from pain, fatigue and debilitating illness that doctors could neither diagnose or treat. Finally after being referred to a consultant outside the local area, she was able to put a name to what was wrong with her and to begin to understand it.

Unfortunately understanding the symptoms of ME does not cure it and so little is known about the condition that there is no magic treatment and little medical help is available. Having ME changes your life and the lives of those around you. The impact that the condition has on you physically also takes a toll on your mental health, as you are unable to do simple things that you previously enjoyed and found relaxing, such as walking, gardening and shopping. Where you may once have been fiercely independent, you find yourself relying on others for what should be the simplest of tasks.

Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (M.E.) is a long-term (chronic), fluctuating, neurological condition that causes many symptoms and effects many body systems, more commonly the immune and nervous systems. M.E. affects an estimated 250,000 people in the UK, and around 17 million people worldwide.

People with M.E. can experience debilitating pain, severe fatigue and a range of other symptoms associated with post-exertional malaise - the body and brains inability to recover after expending even small amounts of energy.

With symptoms experienced differently by each person and the condition varying from mild to severe, one in four people with M.E. are so severely ill they are house or bed-bound, too ill to take even a single step.

Action for M.E. works to end the ignorance, injustice and neglect experienced by men, women and children with M.E. We provide a lifeline of support to thousands of people, campaign to raise awareness and work to encourage more high-quality biomedical research.