Hi, I'm Joshua and I'm 10 years old.  I will be walking the West Highland Way, which is 96 miles, from Milngavie to Fort William.  I will be doing the walk, with my Dad, Grant, in the Easter holidays while I'm off school.

I have decided to raise funds for research into MeCP2 Duplication Syndrome.  My mum's close friend, Jenny, has a little boy Blake who has this condition.  Here is a little bit about it;

MeCP2 Duplication Syndrome is characterized by moderate to severe intellectual disability, severe and uncontrolled epilepsy, and recurrent respiratory tract infections, which respond poorly to treatment and are often a major cause of death.  Most sufferers also have weak muscle tone (hypotonia) in infancy, feeding difficulties, poor or absent speech, or muscle stiffness (spasticity).  There may also be delay in the development of motor skills such as sitting and walking.  Approximately one third of people with this condition cannot walk without assistance.  Almost half of these children die by age 25.  There are only 25 people in the UK diagnosed with this condition.

Blake is about to turn 3, he needs 24 hour care and struggles with a vast amount of health problems.

I would love for Blake to have as full a childhood as possible.

By donating to the MeCP2 Duplication Syndrome Fund at Rett Syndrome Research Trust (RSRT), we can help fund the research needed to help allow Blake and others like him to live a long and healthy life.

Thank you very much!!

Joshua