On 5th October I will be taking part in the Hastings Half Marathon. Whilst I appreciate this is no 'Everest' I am none the less raising money for two charities very close to my heart, Parkinson's UK (www.parkinsons.org.uk) and Kennedy's Disease UK (www.kd-uk.com) and I therefore would be very grateful if you could sponsor my run.

My mother Virginia Palmer-Tomkinson suffers from Parkinson's and my good friend and colleague Kim Slowe suffers from Kennedy's disease.

Whilst most of you will all be familiar with Parkinson's, little is known about Kennedy's disease

Kennedy’s Disease, or X-linked motor neuron disease, is a rare inherited neuromuscular disorder. It is characterised by the degeneration of lower motor neurons within the spinal cord and brainstem. This causes progressive weakening and wasting of the muscles particularly in the arms, legs. It can also severely impact swallowing and breathing.

Kennedy disease predominately effects males and roughly 1 in 7,000 males carry the defective gene.

KD-UK is providing much needed funds to support the specialist Kennedy Disease clinic at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in London and to support research into the illness.

As Kennedy Disease is a genetic disease there is ongoing research into gene modification and gene suppression therapies. The research community are confident that with the right funding an effective treatment, or even a cure, can be found.

Please give generously, every little helps!

Many thanks

Dom