ONE year ago today November 26 Doddie Weir sadly passed away, but his legacy continues.
Since then hundreds of events have taken place in his name throughout the world to raise much needed money to help end MND.
There were too many to mention but here are a few:
This year started off with the annual Doddie Aid 2023 and around 40,000 people are thought to have been part in six weeks of running, rowing and riding.
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Among those who supported the cause were Olympians Dame Katherine Grainger and Sir Chris Hoy, actors Ewan McGregor and Ryan Reynolds, musician Lewis Capaldi and television stars Jason Fox and Gabby Logan, as well as a host of rugby stars past and present.
This raised around £2m for the My name’5 Doddie Foundation.
The 2023 event came to its conclusion when Rob Wainwright and a team of rugby stars transported the match ball for the Doddie Weir Cup Six Nations fixture against Wales from Cardiff to Murrayfield by bike. The feat raised nearly £700,000 alone.
Other events included the Doddie88 Challenge involving Doddie’s former team mates from the 1988 Scottish Schools rugby touring squad of New Zealand who took part in a cycling and walking adventure.
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Kenny Logan’s Rugby World Cup Challenge involved a seven-day, 700-mile, cycling and walking endurance event from Murrayfield, Edinburgh to the Stade De France, Paris. Kenny was joined on the journey by his TV presenter wife Gabby, football legend Ally McCoist, actors Jimmy Nesbitt and Jamie Bamber, TV presenter Kirsty Gallacher, and adventurer Jason Fox.
The Babble Ride Across Britain nine-day cycling event involved 800 cyclists on a 980-mile adventure from Land’s End in Cornwall to John O’Groats in Scotland,
Staff from Berry Bros & Rudd rode 325 miles from London to Champagne, as part of the company’s 325th anniversary with Doddie Aid Edinburgh captain Davy Zyw.
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Other events included the Doddie Scotland Golf Day at the stunning Cameron House, Loch Lomond, and the Doddie Regatta on the Royal Yacht Brittania in Leith.
Crawford Niven, of Gloagburn Farm in Perthshire sowed an image of Doddie jumping in a lineout into a field of rye and father of two David Dooher from climbed Ben Nevis with a safety barbell and weight plates weighing 100kg on his shoulders.
And of course Doddie was part of the MND community that persuaded UK Government to authorise £50 million investment in targeted MND research to be made available to researchers.
There is also a huge range of Doddie merchandise available to buy.
In addition the My Name'5 Doddie Foundation has been named as the Charity of the Year at this year’s GoCardless JustGiving Awards.
Jill Douglas, chief executive at My Name'5 Doddie Foundation, said: "One year on from Doddie's death, his presence is as large as ever as a symbol of hope and unity in our relentless drive towards a world free of MND.
"There continues to be huge momentum in MND research, and backed by the thousands of fundraisers who support the foundation, we will continue to work towards the development of new treatments.
"The £11 million the foundation has now committed to that research will have a huge impact on the MND community's continued efforts, but we know it will take so much more to achieve our goal. That's where our true commitment remains."
So let’s help to end MND by donating what you can afford here.
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