7 Relaxing Wonders of the World

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www.justgiving.com/7relaxingwonders

Thankyou for any sponsorship you can give - we hugely appreciate your generosity, especially in the current financial climate. You can sponsor us as little or as much as you like.

If you're feeling strapped perhaps you could have a raffle for us at your office xmas party, or donate to this great cause instead of buying xmas cards - please feel free to copy and paste our email card below, send it to your friends or colleagues (you can change the greeting) and let them know you really made a difference this xmas!

Thankyou!

 Our chosen charity

Jennifer Elliott, Chief Executive Officer, ME North East writes:

We are delighted to have been chosen by Trai and Chris to be the beneficiaries of sponsorship raised on their exciting journey around the world.

All funds will be used to directly support people with ME, their families and carers.  We presently have a membership of over 1300, and know we are only just scratching the surface of the estimated 12,000 in our region.

ME North East offer one-to-one advocacy and support across the North East and North Cumbria region, enabling people to access and benefit from a range of services in health, education, welfare benefits, and from a wider range of other voluntary agency help.  We also help wherever possible to maintain social inclusion and help people remain in education and work.

In addition one of our key aims as a charity is to support research into the cause and cure of this debilitating disease, and we are working closely with Professor Julia Newton and her colleagues who are presently studying various aspects of ME and fatigue.  Interest from a growing number of researchers, led by Professor Newton, has identified a number of potential collaborative and innovative studies, which could firmly place this team and the North East as a scientific centre of excellence in pursuing the biomedical cause of ME.  Our members are willing volunteers to participate in and be part of this exciting development. The results and developments of this research will benefit ME sufferers around the world.

Professor Julia Newton, Professor of Ageing & Medicine, Newcastle University writes:

The Northern Regional Fatigue Interest Group is establishing itself as the premier place in the UK for biomedical research into the underlying causes of CFS/ME.  In this area there is a group of young and enthusiastic researchers bringing together a range of skills to investigate the basis of this important clinical problem.  Many of those involved haven’t previously been directly involved in fatigue related research and are applying their expertise to understanding this symptom for the first time.  Obtaining large scale funding has proved difficult to date, so the funding provided by the Clinical Network together with ME North East has been invaluable.  The projects to date have allowed us to develop pilot data which is forming the basis of publications (which will change the perception of the scientific community to this debilitating disease) and further grant applications.  The willingness of local patients to participate in our on-going studies is critical to the success of our research.