**PLEASE, PLEASE READ**

On 4th March 2017, Scleroderma took my incredible Dad from us whilst undergoing a stem cell transplant in an attempt to reverse the effects that this disease was having on his body, organs and quality of life.

Scleroderma, or Systemic Sclerosis, remains a very challenging disease with enormous unmet medical need.  However, research that is ongoing at The Royal Free and other centres around the world is starting to have a positive impact.  This research is predominantly led by Professor Chris Denton and is funded by people like you donating to causes like mine.  To date, through various challenges, I have been able to raise in excess of £80,000 for the Royal Free so thank you for your donations thus far!

Together, we have been able to help make great progress in preventing others having to go through what Dad went through.  For example, three promising drugs for lung fibrosis have emerged because of recent major clinical trials that have closely involved Royal Free patients and their clinical trials unit.  This includes Nintedanib, a tablet treatment that is now approved for NHS patients, and injectable drugs such as Tocilizumab and Rituximab that look very promising which Professor Denton hopes will soon be available in the clinic. 

In addition, The Royal Free have been able to host a talented expert medical specialist, Dr Julia Spierings, who was able to take a sabbatical for 12 months, coming from Utrecht in the Netherlands, a leading European centre specialising in “stem cell transplantation” for Scleroderma.  As a result of this The Royal Free have published a major recent research paper (please reach out to me if you'd like to read it) to identify the most suitable Scleroderma patients for this powerful but very challenging treatment that can sometimes completely reverse Scleroderma in the skin and reduce severity in internal organs but is also a very high-risk approach.  Selection and assessment of cases is critical for this treatment and The Royal Free's research was only possible through the fundraising support of mine and others supported by you! 

This work is important for people with Scleroderma around the world as it will help select the best treatment approaches for the most severely affected patients.

But there is much more to do as Scleroderma can damage internal organs including the heart, lungs, kidneys, and bowel as well as causing a huge range of complications such as pain, ulceration and limitation in mobility and everyday activities.  It remains one of the most difficult medical conditions to treat and all the research funding we can secure to advance The Royal Free's efforts and ultimately help patients is incredibly valuable and appreciated by myself, my family, Dad's friends and Professor Denton.

As always, I like to know exactly where the money I am raising will be going. This year, Professor Denton and his team will be focusing on their efforts to develop better blood tests that assess Scleroderma severity and potentially predict who will respond best to the emerging new treatments from current clinical trials.  In this way they may ultimately apply “precision medicine” to tackle the disease and speed up future progress.

Thank you sincerely for your previous and current support and donations to me in my mission to try to conquer Scleroderma.