Doddie Aid is back for 2025! Sign up now

26 November 2024

Doddie Aid is back for 2025, you can sign up now by downloading the brand new app and we can’t wait to get started!

Today’s launch comes alongside the announcement that My Name’5 Doddie Foundation has now committed more than £18 million to vital motor neuron disease (MND) research - two years on from Doddie’s death from the disease.

We have now backed more than 40 pioneering research projects looking at all stages of MND. Our cutting-edge Catalysing a Cure research strategy, led by our Director of Research Jessica Lee, launched in early 2023, directing millions of pounds to research projects that will make the biggest difference in the search for effective treatments, and one day a cure, for MND - from biomarkers that could signal early signs of the disease to clinical trials for possible treatments.

Beginning on 1 January, Doddie Aid 2025 promises to be the biggest yet, with a new four-nations format where you can compete against each other amongst friends, family, colleagues, communities, sports clubs and beyond. Each nation - England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales - will be led by two celebrity star captains.

This year’s Doddie Aid features a new and improved app so those of you taking part can log your miles in your chosen sport(s) or activity. Doddie Aid has so far contributed more than £5 million to My Name’5 Doddie Foundation since it was launched in 2021 by former Scotland captain, as well as teammate and friend of Doddie, Rob Wainwright. It has now grown to become one of the biggest mass participation events dedicated to MND fundraising in the world.

Luke Hames Brown, a former GP  who retired following his own MND diagnosis last year, is one of thousands of people set to take part in Doddie Aid. Luke lives in Oxfordshire with wife Kate and raised more than £50,000 for My Name’5 Doddie Foundation by walking the length of Hadrian’s Wall earlier this year, has called on everybody to join the Doddie Aid cause and raise as much money as possible for MND research: “MND can affect somebody at almost any age, stealing mobility function, independence, and lives. It inevitably dominates and defines people’s lives, and funding and supporting research is one of the best ways we can control the narrative of that definition. 

“I know that getting involved with Doddie Aid and support for MND research might be planting trees in a garden that I never get to see personally – but if there’s any chance that my contribution can make a difference, I’m going to take it. Even if this doesn’t happen in time for me, I don’t want other people in the future to have to go through the same experience.

“By supporting the Foundation and Doddie Aid, you can help ensure that if in the future you or somebody you know is affected by this devastating disease, then there may be a very different picture – one of positivity and hope. That’s why I want everybody to sign up to Doddie Aid.” 

To sign up to Doddie Aid 2025, download the app or visit doddieaid.com. For more information about My Name’5 Doddie Foundation visit myname5doddie.co.uk/.