Thank you very much for making the effort to visit my fundraising page.

Donating through this site is simple, fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to sponsor me.  The Dominic Barker Trust will receive your money faster and, if you are a UK taxpayer, an extra 28% in tax will be added to your gift at no cost to you.

Every now and then I try and take some kind of physical challenge in an attempt to convince myself that I am not closing in on 40.  This year I have let myself be persuaded that I should run a half-marathon up the side of Mont Blanc.

Training for the race was going fine until a couple of months ago when I ran a bit too far and now have tendonitis in my ankle (apparently very common amongst middle aged men trying to convince themselves they are not middle aged).  The down side from this is that it has brought a full stop to any running in the past 8 weeks.  The upsides are that I have an excuse to go out on my far too expensive, carbon fibre, mid-life crisis induced, but at least not a Porsche, bike; and I get to have the lovely Lotte from Addenbrokes sports injury clinic shave and strap my lower leg once a week.

Having signed up for the run however I will complete it as it is a good challenge - 23km of distance and 1.3km of height, probably around a 3 hour time (winner does it in in 1hr 50) and very beautiful; you can check it out it at www.montblancmarathon.net  .  So to force myself through it I am aiming to raise money for charity and I can’t think of a better cause than Dom’s Fund. 

Dominic Barker had a persistent stammer and unable to live with this took his own life in 1994, aged 26. His family set up The Dominic Barker Trust in 1997,with the primary aim being to fund research into stammering, with a view to development of effective support to stammerers and their families.

To date, research and projects which Dom’s Fund has supported include:-
• Funding four published research topics at Suffolk College
• A Research Fellowship at UEA, looking at developing best practice in therapy for adults who stammer
• Study Days to disseminate research to Speech and Language Therapists: three held at Suffolk College and the most recent at UEA

Dom’s Fund is:-
• Established, having funded 10 years’ relevant research, with practical outcomes
• Supporting local, and internationally relevant, research and practice in stammering
• Working in partnership with researchers and practitioners to enable sharing of good practice and training
• Developing a centre of excellence, integrating original research with the delivery of quality training and therapy

Ongoing and upcoming projects include:-
• Funding for a Research Associate at University College Suffolk, to identify those factors which may influence children to develop long-term dysfluency
• Funding for practical equipment to support the work of Speech and Language Therapists in East Anglia
• Funding for the evaluation of a Telephone Assisted Device to enable stammerers to use the telephone more effectively
• Development of a practical play pack to support parent-child interaction therapy

This is not an area that receives much exposure but greatly affects those it touches, so whatever you can do to help would be fantastic.

The race is on June 28th and I look forward to sending you photos of my glorious finish/hobble over the line very soon.

Thank you very much for your support.