Hi, my name is Sarah, and I’m fundraising alongside my husband Paul, his brother David, and their mum Mandy. We’re doing this for my brother-in-law, Richard.

Richard is 33 years old and was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease (MND) in April this year. Since then, his condition has sadly progressed very quickly, and he now needs help with most daily tasks.

For those who may not be familiar, MND is a cruel and currently incurable disease that attacks the nerves in the brain and spinal cord. It causes progressive muscle weakness, eventually affecting the ability to walk, talk, eat, and breathe. It slowly takes away a person's independence — and there’s no way to know exactly how fast or far it will progress.

We want to give him as much dignity and independence as we possibly can.

Richard recently had the chance to try a device called the Neater Eater robotic arm which supports people with limited mobility to feed themselves- see here: https://www.neater.co.uk/neater-eater-robotic It’s an incredible piece of equipment and using it gave him a small piece of independence back — something so simple, but so important. The device costs £8,797 (including VAT) and unfortunately, it isn’t available through the NHS. The Motor Neurone Disease Association (MNDA) has generously contributed £2,000, but it's unlikely we’ll be able to receive further funding through them.

As a family, we’re committed to raising the remaining amount — through fundraisers and with the support of those around us. Any donation, no matter how small, would go directly toward helping Richard keep a bit more control over his day-to-day life.

Thank you so much for reading and for supporting Richard on this journey.

With love,

Sarah, Paul, David & Mandy