Thanks for visiting my fund raising page.

Donating through Justgiving is quick, easy and totally secure. It’s also the most efficient way to sponsor me: LEPRA gets your money faster and, if you’re a UK taxpayer, Justgiving makes sure 25% in Gift Aid, plus a 3% supplement, are added to your donation.

So please sponsor me now!

My daughter Kirsten has persuaded me to join her on a sponsored ride from Edinburgh to St Andrews - 67 miles! - on Saturday 21st June. We're hoping to raise money for LEPRA who work to address leprosy prevention and treatment and other diseases of poverty including TB, HIV and malariaI I decided to use the justgiving site because if I die in the course of the ride (67 miles !) your donation will still get to LEPRA.

Leprosy is a chronic infectious disease of skin and nerves characterised by loss of sensation, disfiguring skin lesions and peripheral nerve damage. If left untreated it leads ultimately to disability, deformity and even blindness, and so has been feared and loathed since biblical times. When nerves are damaged, the ability to feel pain is lost, so hands can be damaged without the person realising it and, because it doesn’t hurt, they do nothing to treat the wound or to protect themselves from further damage, so ulcers develop and infection sets in leading to loss of digits through gangrene and either amputation or natural re-absorption.

Leprosy is one of the most stigmatised diseases, and the fear and loathing which has always accompanied it can lead to someone affected by it being thrown out of their community, even by their own families, and forced to live a life of lonely isolation. Fear of the disease often prevents people from seeking treatment, even if they suspect they may have leprosy - just by admitting their illness they could lose everything.

Leprosy is spread by droplets from the nose and mouth, mainly by coughing and sneezing. To contract leprosy, a person needs prolonged contact with someone who is infected and has not yet been treated. This is most prominent in areas of poor hygiene, overcrowding and poor nutrition. For the foreseeable future some 600,000 will be diagnosed each year - one person every 50 seconds of every day.

Today leprosy is totally curable with multi-drug therapy, in most cases within 1 year. As an occupational therapist,  Kirsten's work involves assisting people to achieve their maximum function and independence and helping them to overcome disability. Leprosy is so disabling when left untreated. With your donations, LEPRA can help to prevent more people developing severe disability. It can cost as little as £21 to cure one person of leprosy.

Johnny T has set the ball rolling by pledging £1 per mile, thanks' John