I'm taking part once again in the Duchenne Dash - Duchenne UK's signature fundraising event, that challenges cyclists to ride 300km from London to Paris in 24 hours.

All money raised will help fund vital research to accelerate the development of treatments for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) – a devastating and ultimately fatal muscle-wasting disease diagnosed in childhood. The most common and severe form of muscular dystrophy, DMD is diagnosed in childhood and mainly affects boys.

I took part in the first Duchenne Dash back in 2013 and have ridden London-to-Paris in 24 hours every year since. You can get a sense of the spirit of this incredible event from the photos in the "gallery" section of this post.

Duchenne UK - the charity which organises the Dash each year - was set up by some old friends of mine from Channel 4 News, one of whom has a child with Duchenne. It is the leading DMD charity in Europe - and has worked tirelessly to connect the best researchers with industry, the NHS and families to advance and accelerate every stage of drug development.

It is a superbly well-run, highly efficient charity that has done brilliant work, funding clinical trials for treatments that offer proven benefits for those with Duchenne.

I am enormously proud to have played a very small part since 2013 to help the founders of Duchenne UK achieve the truly incredible results they have. But the development of treatments and trials is ongoing – and more funding is needed, each and every year, to tackle this ghastly disease.

Please donate – and feel free to be rude about me in the comments section !!

Together, we WILL end Duchenne x