It’s my 50th birthday (I type that number in a whisper to avoid it actually sinking in for me). The most cheerful and hopeful thing I can think of to celebrate this ridiculous milestone is to try and raise a little bit of money for medical research for ME (myalgic encephalomyelitis). My family has been severely affected by this illness in every corner so you all know it is a cause close to my heart.

I don’t want to ruin the party by going on about the horrendous suffering and bleakness it pushes the severest sufferers to…I’d rather focus on the hope. There has to be hope in medical research as we inch closer to understanding the illness. There has to be hope that the medical research will then be able to provide treatments to the next generation of sufferers. That’s a reality I have to do my best to make happen. Research remains scandalously underfunded so progress is very slow. If you could help me boost that research and give me the gift of hope for my birthday I can’t say how much I’d appreciate it.

If anyone that might have bought me a small brown beer, a slice of cake, or paid for train fare to meet for a walk up a mountain to celebrate my big 5-0 then if you could consider donating that bit of money to this ME Research fund I’d be incredibly grateful.

Also…do me a favour and celebrate my birthday by having a lovely time doing whatever you happen to be doing. I can’t join in but I am with you in spirit xxxx

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