OVER £1 million has been raised for Doddie Weir’s Motor Neuron Disease (MND) charity.
The Doddie Active Inter-District (AID) challenge, with nearly 30,000 people taking part raised over £1 million by encouraging people to get active and collect funds.
The mass-participation event has even garnered the support of a host of stars, including Sir Chris Hoy, Gerard Butler, Ewan MacGregor and Lorraine Kelly.
Each pledged their allegiance to a Scottish district, based around the old Scottish inter-district rugby championship.
READ MORE: Doddie Weir whisky auction for My Name’5 Doddie backed by drinks giants
Event organiser, Doddie’s former Scotland and British and Irish Lions teammate, Rob Wainwright, is keen to champion the efforts of everyone involved.
He said: “A huge thank you to all of you who have joined and supported Doddie Aid.
Amazing stuff!! £1m raised!! 👏🏻👏🏻 https://t.co/FAZkqMdAEj
— Chris Hoy (@chrishoy) February 2, 2021
In particular, our tireless District management teams of weel kent faces who have kept us galvanised over the last month, and the army of fundraisers who have just dog walked, run, rowed, cycled and even cold water swum us past the £1,000,000 mark. You are all amazing!”
The My Name’5 Doddie Foundation was established after Doddie, the former Scotland and British & Lions rugby player, revealed he had MND in 2017.
The Foundation raises funds for MND research, to investigate potential cures and meaningful treatments.
It also supports people living with MND, to enable them to live as fulfilled lives as possible.
Over the last three years the Foundation has committed almost £6 million to research projects and a further £1 million to help those sufferering from MND.
Here at DoddieGump we take our calculations very seriously! We also take celebrations seriously, and our thanks! You are all awesome 👏🏽 not enough words 🙏🏻 #doddieaid pic.twitter.com/jC1rYMSpXr
— Doddie Gump (@DoddieGump) February 2, 2021
Jill Douglas, CEO of the My Name’5 Doddie Foundation, said: "I am absolutely blown away by the achievements of everyone involved in Doddie AID.
"I'd like to thank every single person who has joined this amazing challenge, and walked, ran, cycled, skied, rowed, swam and committed to something very special over the last few weeks.
"When Rob first talked about a virtual inter-district exercise challenge, we knew it would appeal to our supporters but we had no idea just how successful it would become!
"Rob's latest "caper" has helped raise the profile of My Name'5 Doddie Foundation and motor neuron disease.
"It has given people a focus and added motivation to become active during this latest lockdown and start 2021 with a bang! And of course, it has raised an incredible amount of money for the Foundation."
The winning district will be the one which covers the most miles and raises the most funds, and will be revealed on Friday 5 February at the virtual Doddie AID Dinner Party.
The occasion will be streamed live on the My Name’5 Doddie Foundation Facebook and Twitter channels and will include a cookalong with celebrity chef, Nick Nairn and wine tasting by Team Edinburgh captain and Berry Bros & Rudd buyer Davy Zyw, assisted by Ally McCoist.
You can become involved and sign up to Doddie Aid by visiting https://doddieaid.com/
More information about the My Name’5 Doddie Foundation can be found at www.myname5doddie.co.uk
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