On the 21st June 2008 a group of us will be commencing the Pennine Way walk. at Edale, Derbyshire.  The 264 miles will be completed in 15 days.  so far the group includes myself, Caz Pope and Dom Mellon and there will be others joining in shortly.

The aim of the walk is to raise money for a local charity, MS Mercia Therapy Centre, which provides essential physical and holistic treatments for MS sufferers in Coventry and surrounding areas. I have been amazed by their support and sense of community that they have promoted within the facility visitors.

MS Mercia have pledged that 60% of the fundraising from this event will go to Nigel Yates.  Born in Redditch, Nigel had moved to Birmingham to follow his dream of becoming an architect.  Whilst in his final year of study at university at the tender age of 28 years, Nigel suffered a catastrophic brain stem stroke, leaving him with a poor prognosis.  Nigel's condition was initially termed as locked in syndrome (which will be familiar to all who have read or seen 'The Diving Bell and The Butterfly').  However, despite medical opinions to expect the worst, Nigel has consistently improved since his stroke, and slowly and steadily still progresses.  He is currently undergoing intensive physiotherapy and has recently stood for the first time in over 3 years.  Due to the shortage of funds available through the NHS, Nigel has begun to recapture parts of his life only with the assistance of previous donations, assisted by family and friends.  Fundraising money has been dedicated to the provision of physiotherapy, hydrotherapy and speech therapy. 

We discovered the MS Mercia centre two years ago, when Nigel went for a course of oxygen therapy at the centre.  This has proved so popular that it is now provided by 'Pure Oxygen Ltd' at the centre, in particular to children with autism, stroke victims of all ages and has become increasingly used to speed up recovery for more minor issues such as sports injuries.  The care and support that they offered to Nigel and his family, was exceptional.  We would therefore be very grateful if you would sponsor us on our exceptionally tough walk, so that both MS Mercia and Nigel can continue their battles.

Just to let everyone know that we completed the truly exhausting mission successfully and all returned unharmed and still talking to each other.  Thank you to everyone for their support so far. 

Final donations to be made by the 14th August 2008.