The charity founded by the late Doddie Weir has committed more than £18 million to dozens of motor neuron disease (MND) research in the two years since the rugby legend's death.
The My Name’5 Doddie Foundation has now backed more than 40 different projects, including biomarker studies that could speed up diagnosis and clinical trials investigating potential new treatments.
Weir set up the charity in 2017 following his own MND diagnosis, aged just 46.
He died six years later, on November 26 2022.
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The milestone announcement coincides with the launch of Doddie Aid 2025 – the charity’s signature mass participation event in which tens of thousands of people rack up miles walking, running, swimming, cycling and more to raise money to fund the search for an MND cure.
Weir, a father-of- three who was capped 61 times for Scotland during an illustrious rugby career with Scotland, the British and Irish Lions, Newcastle Falcons, and his home town club Melrose, became one of the world’s most prominent MND campaigners during the last years of his life.
He wanted the pursuit of a world free of MND to be his legacy.
Doddie Aid 2025, which begins on January 1, promises to be the biggest yet, with a new expanded four-nations format in which participants will compete against one another.
Each nation – England, Ireland, Wales, and Doddie’s native Scotland – will be led by two celebrity star captains set to be announced in December.
The 2025 event will also feature a new and improved app to enable participants to log miles in their chosen sport or activity.
Doddie Aid, launched by Weir’s friend, former teammate, and Scotland captain Rob Wainwright in 2021, has grown to become one of the biggest mass participation events dedicated to MND fundraising in the world.
The 35-year-old, who lives in Oxfordshire with wife Kate, raised more than £50,000 for My Name’5 Doddie Foundation by walking the length of Hadrian’s Wall earlier this year.
He said: “MND can affect somebody at almost any age, stealing mobility function, independence, and lives.
"It inevitably dominates and defines people’s lives, and funding and supporting research is one of the best ways we can control the narrative of that definition.
“I know that getting involved with Doddie Aid and support for MND research might be planting trees in a garden that I never get to see personally – but if there’s any chance that my contribution can make a difference, I’m going to take it.
"Even if this doesn’t happen in time for me, I don’t want other people in the future to have to go through the same experience.”
MND is a disease which affects the motor neurons of the nervous system.
It damages and attacks the nerves, meaning that messages being sent from the brain to the muscles no longer work.
It is life shortening and mostly progresses rapidly.
Approximately 1,100 people are diagnosed with MND every year in the UK. Up to 5,000 adults in the UK are affected at any one time.
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"It is a great achievement – but we have so much more to do.
"Doddie was relentless in his pursuit of a world free of MND, and it will be up to us to realise his legacy by committing more money to research projects that will make a difference to those with MND.
“Doddie Aid is the focal point of our year and the time when everybody affected directly, indirectly, or who has simply been touched by the many incredible, inspiring, and heartbreaking stories connected to the MND community can do something about it.
"Every person who signs up is making a difference.
“We miss Doddie always and feel his absence even more on occasions like this anniversary.
"The best tribute we can all pay to him is to do everything to move closer to that cure – and it starts with Doddie Aid 2025.”
To sign up to Doddie Aid 2025, download the app or visit doddieaid.com.
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