First Minister John Swinney launches the Doddie Aid 2025 campaign

Scotland’s First Minister John Swinney launches the Doddie Aid 2025 campaign at Murrayfield stadium.

Article Source: Message Matters
Last Updated: 29 December 2024 14:24

The FM signed up to take part in the fundraiser launched by former Scotland rugby star Doddie Weir as he met other supporters warming up for it at Murrayfield in Edinburgh yesterday (Saturday). Doddie Aid is the Foundation’s single largest fundraising campaign. It takes place from 1 January every year for five weeks, with thousands of supporters signing up to take part in the personal exercise challenge. Participants pay £20 to enter and record their exercise miles on the Doddie Aid app. All forms of exercise count, including running, cycling, swimming, dancing and walking.

Everyone who signs up receives one of the striking snoods now inextricably linked with the campaign's work.

For the first time, Doddie Aid participants will be split into the four nations of Scotland, England, Ireland and Wales and will compete to see which nation can log the most number of miles over the five weeks of the campaign.

Speaking ahead of signing up to take part in Doddie Aid 2025, First Minister John Swinney said: “Doddie Weir is an inspiration to people across Scotland – as both a sportsman and a campaigner. And the research into MND through his Foundation is a powerful legacy.

“We need to understand this terrible condition better and find a cure - Doddie Aid and the Foundation are making a huge contribution to this mission, and I am delighted to play a small personal part in their efforts this year.”

My Name’5 Doddie Foundation was set up by former Scotland and British Lions player Doddie Weir in 2017 to raise funds for research into motor neuron disease. Since that time, the Foundation has committed over £18 million in research into effective treatments and a cure for MND, but this remains a challenging disease with few treatments and no cure.

● Motor Neuron Disease is a complex disease that affects the behaviour of motor neurons in the body. Motor neurons carry signals from the brain directly to muscles; when the motor neurons are affected, the muscles become progressively weaker. MND is a fast progressing neurological condition. The disease affects one in 300 people in the UK, and takes the life of a third of sufferers within one year of diagnosis, and half within two years. As yet there are very few effective treatments for MND and no cure.

● Research is key in bringing an end to MND, and in the seven years since its formation the Foundation has committed £18 million in grants for research activities. The projects funded fall into two categories:

Pre-clinical i.e. lab-based work to discover, test and learn before conducting studies in
humans

Clinical studies – i.e. testing the most promising treatments in people living with MND

Photos by Jamie Simpson / My Name’5 Doddie Foundation

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