This September, I, along with some of my amazing friends have decided to do the National Three Peaks Challenge to raise money for two charities that are very, very close to all of our hearts. Two of our colleagues and families have been directly impacted by the cause for these charities recently, and we want to raise money to help support the amazing work that they do. These charities are MNDA and AMMF (see below for more info).

For those of you who don’t know, the National Three Peaks Challenge is conquering the three highest peaks in Scotland, England, and Wales (including the driving in between) within 24 hours.

Only 40% achieve this challenge in 24 hours, so we are all pushing ourselves in the training for this which is already taking its toll; but it is all worth it for these charities.

This is a direct plea; if you have anything to give then we would be so grateful to go towards these amazing charities. I know we are all in the middle of the cost of living crisis (or the cozzie liv if you have no self-respect) – but if you have gotten this far then you either care, or are just nosey as hell. Either way, donate! Any amount: the cost of that new shirt you don’t need (you already look incredible); the cost of that pint (your drunk enough); that overpriced Starbucks (just drink instant)… It all goes towards something great.

These conditions could impact us all at any point in our lives. If you have anything to give, even if it’s a supportive message then we’d love it.

If you don’t want to donate but have a raffle prize you could donate then we would also love that for our fundraising events.

Also, there is no way we’re not doing it in 24 hours! Follow us on Instagram to see our progress
https://www.instagram.com/easternregion3pc/

Thank you so much with anything you can do to support these amazing causes!

MNDA helps support those affected by motor neurone disease. Motor neurone disease is a rare condition affecting the brain and nerves. Slowly over time people suffering with the condition lose function of limbs and speech. As MND becomes more advanced, more parts and functions of the body are affected. This can increase the likelihood of infections, and subsequently make the condition worse. There's no cure for MND, but there are treatments to help reduce the impact it has on a person's daily life. Some people live with the condition for many years. MND can significantly shorten life expectancy and, unfortunately, eventually leads to death. https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/motor-neurone-disease/

AMMF supports those impacted by cholangiocarcinoma. This is a very rare but aggressive cancer which effects the bile duct system. We have all been impacted by cancer, some of us more directly than others; but this type of cancer is very hard to detect. There are no UK wide stats on bile duct survival rate, but from data in England in 2012 only 30% of males and 25% of females survived after one year of diagnosis (breast cancer is 95% and testicular cancer is 99% for comparison) https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/bile-duct-cancer/survival. I think form these stats we can all agree that more work needs to go into this type of cancer, and that is the entire point of this challenge.