Welcome to my fundraising page for the Dystonia Society!
Well, I hobbled home and this weekend after completing the Test Way. Several aspects of the sponsored walk have greatly exceeded my expectations: the generosity of your support of course and the weather were the most welcome, whereas the size and number of my blisters were maybe less so. I’ll be doing a brief write-up and will include it on this justgiving webpage. It’s looking like we’ve raised over £1600 for the Dystonia Society which is a fantastic result, as well as raising awareness of the condition (including, hopefully, a mention in the local papers). When the Gift Aid is added in as well (which this year I’d like to think is being funded from the repayments of MP expenses) the total could be close to £2000! I’d like to thank everyone again for your brilliant support and donations. This justgiving webpage (http://www.justgiving.com/davekeene) will remain open for another 3 months if you are still thinking of sponsoring me. Dystonia is a neurological movement disorder that causes muscle spasms. It affects men, women and children of all ages and ethnic groups and there are up to 40,000 known sufferers in the . The muscle spasms cause abnormal movements and postures, such as involuntary closing of the eyelids, twisting of the neck or loss of function of speech muscles. These muscle spasms can be painful and debilitating and Dystonia has no cure. Treatments are available but are not always effective.
My wife Rossana suffers with a form of Dystonia called Blepherospasm that affects her eyelids, causing them to close tightly and effectively making her blind for significant periods of time. She’s not been able to work since March 2008.
The Dystonia Society (http://www.dystonia.org.uk) is a charity that provides practical and emotional support to people living with this neurological condition.
I wanted to do more to help and support the Dystonia Society and to make more people aware of this condition. I therefore decided to do a sponsored walk to raise funds for the charity on 12 to 14 June this year.
Donating through Justgiving is quick, easy and totally secure. It’s also the most efficient way to sponsor me: The Dystonia Society gets your money faster and, if you’re a taxpayer, Justgiving makes sure 25% in Gift Aid, plus a 3% supplement, are added to are added to your donation.
