On 20th May 2022 a group of staff and ex staff at St.Wilfrids School will be starting an endurance event from 6pm through the night finishing at 12am the next day. Some staff will be running, walking (anything from a half marathon to 5k), one staff member ( Mike) plans to aim to hit 250/300km on his bike cycling around the school! 

Staff/ex-colleagues taking part;

Mike Lewis - Cycling round the 1k route - target 200k.

Jamie Tennant and Jamie Chandler- 10 mile hike, hopeful for more!

Laura Turton (Griffiths) and Josh Smith- Half Marathon.

Our aim simply to pledge time to remember a fantastic colleague, loving dad and simply an amazing human. 

Gordon was taken from us far too early by such a cruel disease and  we look forward to making this event happen as a mark of respect and legacy. Gordon worked in the Mathematics department from 2008 until 2013 and inspired both students and staff with his energy and positive outlook. When he was diagnosed with MND in 2018 he still continued this approach to life, by this time he had a sparkling young family. Sadly and despite doing everything to fight and make the most of everyday he was taken from us in 2020.We all miss him greatly and hope that the funds raised will help the foundation we are raising money for to continue their support of research and support for those in need. I know that Gordon would have approved of this  type of event and  would be exactly the type of thing he would have done for others.Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

MND (Motor Neurone Disease) is a brutal disease, it essentially stops messages from the motor neurones reaching the muscles. This leads the muscles to weaken, stiffen and waste. MND can affect how you walk, talk, eat, drink and breathe. Some people also experience changes to their thinking and behaviour. However, MND affects everyone differently. Not all symptoms will affect everyone, or in the same order. Symptoms also progress at varying speeds, which makes the course of the disease difficult to predict. It is life-shattering for all those involved as it can move aggressively through a person. 

There is no cure as it stands. Gordon was the second person that I have known who has lost their life at far too young an age , in the UK there is currently a 1 in 300 risk of being diagnosed with MND. In other words, if you have 10,000 people in a stadium, 33 of them will get MND at some point across a normal lifespan. 

However, the prevalence of a disease is the number of people currently living with that condition. As the progression of MND can be rapid, fewer people are living with this disease than you might expect with a 1 in 300 risk. This means the prevalence is low, with up to 5,000 people living with MND in the UK at any one time. This is why MND is not seen as a common disease.

This means general health and social care professionals may not see many cases of MND. It's important to seek out specialists who have appropriate experience in MND treatment and care – usually with referral to neurological services.

Thank you for taking time to read this and hope you can support this event, Mike Lewis.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.