In 2020 I’m taking on two challenges to raise money for InvestinME: climbing Mount Kilimanjaro and running my first marathon. InvestinME is a charity that is trying to improve research into ME, or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

Before my cousin was diagnosed with CFS, I was only dimly aware of the condition, but since then I have come to realise both what a significant impact it can have on people's lives, and also the extent to which it is both misunderstood and under-funded.

ME is twice as common as MS and three times as common as HIV, yet there is currently very little funding for biomedical research into the condition.  Possibly this is to do with misconceptions about the causes and effects of ME, in some cases among medical professionals as well as the public.  Some believe it is a psychological condition, but in reality CFS is a physical illness with clear, clinical symptoms, most usually triggered in response to an infection such as bronchitis, gastroenteritis, or severe "flu-like" illness.  For about 25% of patients, the condition means they are house or bed bound.  

I am therefore taking on these two challenges in order to raise both money and awareness of CFS.  I will be paying the costs of the trip myself, so any fundraising will go directly to the charity.  I would be very grateful for any support, no matter how small - it will all make a difference.  You can find out more about the charity here: http://www.investinme.org/lander17.shtml or below.