A Walk for NF2…Two…!!
Support Noel, Mike and Andy at their People’s Fundraising page here: WalkForNF2Two
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.
[Image Description] Fundraiser Andy White and his daughter Rebecca.
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.
[Image Description] The intrepid explorers Andy White, Mike Keel and Noel Hastings.
Whilst there are treatments to slow progression for NF2 and Schwannomatosis, there is as yet no cure. So please help us find one…
NF2 BioSolutions UK, is a registered charity in the UK that all the monies gained from the walk will be going to.
NF2 BioSolutions UK and Europe is financing a particularly promising avenue of repurposing existing drugs for effective treatment, which is being researched by PhD students Grace Gregory and Adam Paul Jones at the University of Manchester. Their work aims to find a therapy able to act on both tumour types by identifying specific immune cells present in both vestibular schwannomas and meningiomas and how they contribute to tumour-associated inflammation and tumour growth.
[Image Description] NF2 BioSolutions PhD researcher Grace Gregory hosting Fundraiser Andy White at the research labs at the University of Manchester.
This fundraising challenge will help Grace’s and Adam’s work to continue and provide hope for those facing NF2 and Schwannomatosis.
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
Support Noel, Mike and Andy at their People’s Fundraising page here: WalkForNF2Two
And now – a big SHOUT OUT to our generous 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 the 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.
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This blog has been created as a way to share real stories, ideas, positivity and even sprinkle in some science. Everyone is welcome here and warmly encouraged to join us in contributing to our community through this blog. If you would like to add anything (anything at all!) then please contact myself, Grace Gregory, at grace@nf2biosolutions.org and we can pop it up on our blog. Watch this space and please join in helping us all connect and share with one another!