My Name’5 Doddie Foundation has launched a new campaign to raise awareness about the devastating impact of MND(Motor Neurone Disease) in the UK. 

My Name’5 Doddie Foundation was established by late rugby legend and motor neurone disease (MND) campaigner Doddie Weir. 

The campaign comes ahead of Doddie Aid 2025, one of the world’s largest fundraising events focused on MND, set to launch on 1 January. It reveals several eye-opening facts about MND in the UK. Six people die from MND every day and the disease carries a one-in-300 lifetime risk of death. The current life expectancy from diagnosis is just one to three years.

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Some of these statistics were prominently displayed to commuters at major train stations in London, Cardiff, Belfast and Edinburgh to drive home the urgency of the situation.

Doddie Aid, now in its fifth year, has already raised more than £5m for MND research and this year introduces an expanded four-nations format, allowing participants to compete against each other across England, Wales, Ireland, and Scotland.

Each nation will be led by two celebrity captains. In Scotland, Ally McCoist and Lorraine Kelly, in England, Anton Du Beke and Gabby Logan, in Wales Sam Warburton and Laura-Jane Jones and in Northern Ireland, Jimmy Nesbitt and Edel McMahon. Participants can rack up miles by walking, running, swimming, cycling, and more using the Doddie Aid app, with all proceeds going towards funding MND research.

“Six people in the UK are diagnosed with – and will die of – MND every day. We all want this to change but we cannot do it without the help of the public,” said Nicola Roseman, CEO of the foundation, “People are being diagnosed faster than the rate of research and advances in treatments, and that’s why we have committed more than £18m and counting to vital projects that could one day make the difference. But we need more.”