In July 2022, our future as a family was turned upside down when Paul was diagnosed with motor neurone disease (MND).

Paul served 28 years as a firefighter, and 25 years in the military (both regular and reserve) serving country and community. His physicality has been a core part of the person he is, the job he has done, and the sports he has taken a keen interest in throughout his life, most recently gaining his football coaching qualifications to coach our boys’ football teams.

As a family we have done all we can to support Paul with his diagnosis and help him to maintain his independence. Like many MND warriors before him, Paul is determined to keep independent for as long as he possibly can. For those who know about MND, this is not an easy task. It strips away someone’s strength and mobility at a scary speed. Whilst Paul has been incredible in adapting to the physical changes MND brings, we always knew there could be a time where we would need to make adaptations to our house to give extra support and help him fight to keep his independence for as long as possible.

We have reached a critical point where our current home is no longer safe for Paul and he requires ground floor living. He is not able to get upstairs unaided and even with help, this action can take so much effort it can leave him immobile for the rest of the day. It is so important to us to provide Paul with a suitable space that is both functional and accessible, whilst also being a place we can enjoy together as a family with the precious time we have.

Sadly we have found out that we are not eligible for funding/grants through our Local Authority and as such we have to generate the funds ourselves for the building adaptations required.

We are working closely with various MND & work related charities who are providing some of the funding but unfortunately we still have quite a large deficit in what is projected to be the total cost of works needed.

Three years on from Paul’s diagnosis, as a family we are planning various fundraising events towards the costs needed starting with my sister, Adele and I attempting the Yorkshire 3 Peaks Challenge of climbing Pen-y-ghent (694m), Whernside (736m) & Ingleborough (723m) in 12 hours covering 24 miles on Saturday 27th September ‘25. I will also be running the Tatton Park Half Marathon on Sunday 9th November ‘25 (Remembrance Sunday)

We would be so grateful for any donations that can be made to help us create the safe space for Paul.

Thank you so much for your support,

With love

Nicola, Paul and the Minor family x