Doddie AID Hits £1 Million Mark

03 February 2021

We are absolutely delighted to report that Doddie AID has raised more than £1 million for the Foundation - a huge thank you to everyone!

The Doddie Active Inter-District (AID) challenge, encouraging people to get active and raise funds for the My Name’5 Doddie Foundation, comes to an end at the start of this year’s 6 Nations Championship on 6 February, coinciding with the Calcutta Cup match at Twickenham. vWith nearly 30,000 people taking part in the challenge, over £1 million has been raised for the Foundation and the event organiser, Doddie’s former Scotland and British and Irish Lions teammate, Rob Wainwright, is keen to champion the efforts of everyone involved:

Rob commented: “A huge thank you to all of you who have joined and supported Doddie Aid. 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 mass-participation event has encouraged a host of stars to become involved, including Sir Chris Hoy, Gerard Butler, Ewan MacGregor and Lorraine Kelly with each pledging their allegiance to a Scottish district, based around the old Scottish inter-district rugby championship. Over the course of the event, numerous other fundraising activities have taken place including the World in a Day cycle, organised by record-setting endurance cyclist, Mark Beaumont.

The winning district will be crowned on Friday 5 February at the virtual Doddie AID Dinner Party which will serve as a finale to the event. 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.

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.

Jill Douglas, CEO of the My Name’5 Doddie Foundation, added:

"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.

"We will soon share our plans for the future of My Name'5 Doddie Foundation with our new strategy and vision for the years ahead. We are committed to a world free of MND and thanks to the amazing support for Doddie AID, we have funds available to pursue this vision. A huge thank you to Rob and the team behind Doddie AID...and dare I say...see you next year?!"

The winning district will be the one which covers the most miles and raises the most funds.

There is still time to become involved and sign up to Doddie Aid, visit: https://doddieaid.com/