A Walk for NF2...Two...!!

In 2021 two lifelong friends, Andy White and Mike Whitehouse walked the Wainwright Coast to Coast to celebrate their 60th birthdays and raise more than £14,000 towards research into finding a cure for a rare genetic condition, NF2-related schwannomatosis - NF2 for short.

And now in 2023 a new team is aiming to beat that amount as well as widen our scope to include Schwannomatosis more generally.

So, we go again. And this time there are 3 of us. The new team is Mike Keel, Noel Hastings and Andy White – a trio of 60+ year-olds determined not to allow aging limbs to slow down our efforts.

After all, this is personal. In 2019, Andy’s daughter Rebecca, now 35, was diagnosed with NF2. In the same year, Noel’s daughter Hayley, now 34, was diagnosed with Schwannomatosis. Mike, a school friend of Andy’s stretching back to the early 1970s, in the goodness of his heart, and as a far more experienced walker than the other two, has taken us under his wing to ensure we complete the rigours of this latest challenge – The Pennine Way...!! Stretching 268 miles from Edale in the Derbyshire Peak District to Kirk Yetholm just inside the Scottish Border, the path runs along the Pennine hills – the “backbone of England” – and is generally regarded as one of Britain’s toughest. We three gluttons for punishment aim to complete the walk in 19 days – not bad for 3 people with a combined age of 185.

NF2 and Schwannomatosis are caused by faulty genes and are associated with schwannomas (non-cancerous tumours) of the nervous system - brain and spine. For people with NF2, vestibular schwannomas cause hearing and sight loss, as well as tumours in the brain and on the spine. In Schwannomatosis the most common symptom is chronic pain, which is often severe and difficult to manage. People with both conditions have an increased risk of tumours of the nervous system that can lead to significant medical problems, especially if there are multiple tumours in or next to the brain – which can mean life-threatening invasive surgery.

Whilst there are treatments to slow progression, there is as yet no cure. So please help us find one.

The most promising avenues are gene therapy and bacteriotherapy. NF2 BioSolutions is pursuing three main tracks for gene therapy, and one for bacteriotherapy: https://nf2biosolutions.org.

Their UK affiliate, NF2 BioSolutions UK, is a registered charity in the UK that all the monies gained from the walk will be going to.

All the expenses for our Pennine way caper are met by the three of us. The beautiful people at NF2 BioSolutions UK are volunteers and take no remuneration. This means that every penny donated to our effort goes directly to the search for a cure.

 

Please give whatever you can - every little bit helps…! - Thank you...!

Noel, Mike and Andy

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UPDATE...! We are so happy to announce that Hudson have become our latest corporate sponsor...! Many of you will remember their generosity last time round when we took on the Coast to Coast, and they wanted to make sure they supported us again this time in our new challenge. Covering recruitment and selection, assessment and development, reward management and strategic HR consultancy across the public and private sectors, Hudson Benelux have been accelerating people and organisations towards achieving excellence for more than 40 years. Their 275+ consultants are laser-focused on building human capital through their experience and expertise, in-depth knowledge of all business sectors and cutting-edge tools. Our warmest thanks to all staff for their unwavering support, empathy and humanity. 

UPDATE...! We are thrilled to announce our newest Corporate Sponsor: De Lift...! De Lift is the biggest independent company in Belgium specialising in the maintenance, repair and modernisation of all makes and size of lift. They look after an incredible 8500+ lifts across the country. The company is recognised as one of Belgium’s “Superscalers” – one of an impressive cohort of companies that show more than 10% growth every year. They currently employ more than 120 specialist engineers, each with many years of experience and deep knowledge. De Lift is known and respected for its close, personal service, making them a perfect partner for our fundraising efforts. Our grateful thanks to Operational Director Tom Meesschaert and all the team at De Lift....!! 

Thank you so much to our latest corporate sponsor, Phillip Carroll and the Xeinadin Group...! David Burgess and the team at Phillip Carroll provide a wide range of accountancy, audit and advisory services to small and medium-sized businesses and guide others when setting up a new business. The Xeinadin Group is an extensive group of more than 1,500 advisors spanning the UK and Ireland, helping entrepreneurs, SMEs, corporations and not-for-profit organisations achieve their goals. They add real value to their clients by collaborating with a deep business understanding and expertise. They do so with global reach combined with a local, personal touch – making them another perfect fit with our fundraising efforts. Thank you, Phillip Carroll and Xeinadin...!

UPDATE...! A big shout out to our first corporate sponsors...! Miwon Commercial Co., Ltd. is a global chemical manufacturing company originating in South Korea, with more than 60 years of history, making them a perfect partner for our team of sixty-somethings...!! Its two divisions, Miwon Specialty Chemical and Miwon Chemicals, are world-renowned fine chemical providers to industry, with best-in-class R&D that keeps them ahead in a rapidly changing market.