About

What is Doddie Aid?

Doddie Aid is a personal exercise challenge that takes place from 1 January 2025 and runs for 5 weeks, all whilst raising funds for My Name’5 Doddie Foundation to help find a cure for motor neuron disease (MND).

To take part, and receive your iconic Doddie Aid snood, all you have to do is download the Doddie Aid app, sign up with a £20 donation, and start logging your activity miles - it’s that simple!

And Doddie Aid is competitive. When signing up, you’ll be asked to select a nation to represent (England, Ireland, Scotland or Wales). The winning nation will be the one which has collectively clocked up the most miles when Doddie Aid 2025 ends on Wednesday 5 February. 

You can even take your competitive streak to the next level with our league feature in the app, which allows you to compete with your friends, family, team-mates and colleagues. Make sure to keep an eye out for our brand new mini challenges too - unlock exclusive trophies and build an impressive looking trophy cabinet in the app!

History of Doddie Aid

Doddie Aid was founded in 2021 by former Scotland captain and British and Irish Lion, Rob Wainwright, to help raise funds for My Name’5 Doddie Foundation - the charity that Rob’s former teammate and friend, Doddie Weir, set up.

Doddie Aid is My Name’5 Doddie Foundation’s most successful campaign to date. Since 2021, over £5 million has been raised for motor neuron disease research, 100,000 people have taken part and more than 9.5 million miles have been logged.

In previous years, Doddie Aid participants would sign up and select a district to represent and compete for. But now for the first time, to celebrate the Foundation’s official charity partnership with the Lions Trust, the Doddie Aid teams for 2025 are being split into the four nations: England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

Since its inception, the Doddie Aid has attracted a host of stars to take part, such as Sir Chris Hoy, Ewan MacGregor, Lewis Capaldi and Lorraine Kelly, to name but a few.

About My Name’5 Doddie Foundation

My Name’5 Doddie Foundation has a clear vision of a world free of motor neuron disease (MND).

The charity was established in 2017 by Doddie Weir, one of rugby’s most recognisable personalities, following Doddie’s diagnosis with MND and his frustration at the lack of options given to those living with MND - no effective treatment, no access to meaningful clinical trials and no hope. From the outset of his diagnosis, Doddie was driven to help others and seek ways to further research into this, as yet, incurable disease.

1 in 300 people are at risk of developing MND in their lifetime, and approximately 1,100 people are diagnosed every year in the UK.

The aims of My Name’5 Doddie Foundation are simple:

• To raise funds to aid research into the causes of MND and investigate potential cures and meaningful treatments 
• To make grants available to individuals with MND, to enable them to live as fulfilled a life as possible.

Join Doddie Aid today and help us tackle MND!