CARERS PEDDLE SUCCESS FOR MOTOR NEURONE DISEASE (MND)

Group Photo – Terry holding Mary's Thumbs Up

Clair

Mary Aston – thumbs up!

Richard

Sarah & Clair at start

Tina

CARERS PEDDLE SUCCESS FOR MOTOR NEURONE DISEASE (MND)

By Terry Aston

It’s Tuesday 21st June and Sarah and Claire turn in at 7am on their day off from their normal care giving duties to kick off the epic coast to coast Whitehaven to Sunderland emulated bike ride to raise funds for the Motor Neurone Disease Association (MNDA). This was in memory of my wife Mary who passed away on April 6th, three years after being diagnosed with MND. The trip was done on an exercise bike at Surecare’s Nantwich office. Surecare Central provided homecare support to Mary since October 2021 and provided outstanding care during that time – always cheerful, always on time and always kind.

I think it’s fair to say that Sarah, who was not used to cycling but the instigator of the event, was just a little apprehensive about the day ahead, but she need not have been as the whole team from Surecare Central pitched in to do a stint. They were also ably assisted by “guest riders” such as Richard Webb from MNDA Cheshire branch, Claire Woosnam-Savage (Mary’s Occupational Therapist) and family friend Janice Dale. The miles steadily totted up during the day (well I say miles – the bike was calibrated in km and so a constant conversion had to be made with the ultimate target of 214 km). Support was also forthcoming from various visitors from Surecare’s head office.

Also in plentiful supply was a rather large pile of doughnuts to fuel the cyclists! As the miles went up the pile of doughnuts went commensurately down.

The fundraising target for the day was £3000, but that was a revised target from the original £2250. That was chosen as it is the amount the MNDA need to provide a text to speech device for a sufferer. One of these was crucial to Mary in the last year as the disease took away her ability to speak. The ladies from Surecare would always chat with Mary during their visits and Mary would often have a laugh and joke with them through this. However, that target was met even before they started pedalling so it was right to increase the challenge before kick off. As the day went by the total steadily increased and the fund target was hit almost at the same time as the mileage target was hit at 6:15 pm with a big cheer going up from the assembled.

At the end I think it’s fair to say Sarah looked just a tiny bit tired or to put it another way couldn’t peddle another inch!

Afterwards Sarah said : “We knew we wanted to do something as a team for Mary and having been a keen cyclist herself that seemed the natural choice. A good challenge and something which Mary enjoyed. We never dreamt we would raise so much money and are so thankful to everyone who donated and helped us smash our target. The best part of the day for me was seeing everyone coming together and working as a team to overcome the challenge and raising money and awareness for MND in Mary's memory.

Tina Jones, director of Surecare Nantwich said: “It was such a fantastic day, not just for the amazing amount of money we raised, currently standing at £3,672 but for how everyone pulled together in Mary’s memory. 133 miles is a very long way to cycle on your own but collectively it was so much more achievable. I would like to thank the whole team from SureCare, not just those that cycled but those that kept us motivated and covered the care calls to allow the fundraiser to take place.”

I’d like to say a big thank you to the whole team who did this in Mary’s memory and to all who have donated. At the time of writing the fund stands at £3207 and together with Gift Aid brings the total for the MNDA to £3786. However the fund page is staying open for a couple more weeks for anyone who hasn’t been able to donate just yet – go to https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/surecarecentralcheshire

NOTES

Motor neurone disease (MND) affects the nerves called motor neurones in the brain and spinal cord. These nerves tell your muscles what to do. With MND,messages from the motor neurones gradually stop reaching the muscles. This leads the muscles to weaken, stiffen and waste. MND can affect how you walk, talk, eat, drink and breathe. Some people also experience changes totheir thinking and behaviour. You have a 1:300 chance of developing MND in your lifetime. From onset of symptoms survival time is typically three to five years with progressive disability and dependency during that time.

The MNDA is a charity that fulfils several functions – providing support to sufferers and their families, sponsoring research and campaigning. During Mary's journey with this disease they provided essential support not available elsewhere.

The MNDA sponsor research across a range of institutions, and some research would probably not be possible without their help. You can find out more on their website https://www.mndassociation.org/.