On the 27th June, my brother Matt and I will be walking 50km as part of the Sheffield University ‘Big Walk 2025’ in memory of our Dad, Paul Charlton, to raise awareness of Motor Neurone Disease and advance the ground-break research Sheffield University are doing into Neurological diseases, which includes MND.

If you can give 10 minutes to read into MND and the work Sheffield University are doing, and raise your awareness, it will make the sore legs worthwhile.

Any donations would be very appreciated and will contribute to funding the first site nationally to develop experimental genetic therapies for MND.

The photo is of my Dad, Paul Charlton, aged 43. Always a very talented footballer, he played most of his life at a high amateur level. A kind and calm man, but as tough as you get on the pitch. After a ten year football break to help raise myself and my x3 siblings he returned for a final one and done final season for the local team, where the majority of the team were half his age. He went on to win player’s player of the season that year.

3 years later he was diagnosed with MND, which slowly robbed him of his ability to walk, speak and move. He lost his battle with MND at aged 50.

This photo always brings up a lot of emotion as it is a reminder of the warrior Paul Charlton was before MND and throughout his battle with the disease. But equally it brings home how brutal MND is, to go from a football player of the year, to not being able to walk or talk 4 years later.

MND affects the nerves that control your muscles. As more nerves die, the impact gets progressively worse. People with MND slowly lose the ability to move. So while their minds are often unaffected they become trapped in a body that can no longer talk or swallow, walk, laugh, eat and even breathe. Most people die within five years of an MND diagnosis.

Still little is known about MND and despite decades of research, neurological diseases are notoriously difficult to treat, with treatments masking symptoms rather than curing the root cause of these devastating illnesses.

A new approach to tackling neurological diseases has been long-needed and the focus is on changing the conversation from care to cure. Researchers in Sheffield are at the forefront of driving breakthroughs and bringing hope to millions at last.