Looking forward to 2014

March 5, 2014 2:11 pm

What an astonishing year 2013 was – through our amazing supporters we raised £100,000 for research into Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.

For now Alex is doing well. That said, we know he’s beginning to struggle as his legs and arms are becoming tired more easily.  He’s hugely competitive and loves nothing more than scoring goals at his school football club.  But we know time is running out.  Alex is nearly 8 years old now and it’s around this time that boys with Duchenne start to see decline in the physical capabilities. It’s heart-breaking to think Alex is start losing his ability to do the things he loves. His school is incredibly sympathetic to Alex’s needs and they’ve started teaching him keyboard skills so he can keep up with his peers. Writing can become hard for Alex as it’s incredibly tiring for his arms. Alex takes part in most school activities but struggles with climbing on the climbing frames so sometimes has to sit out. All we can hope for right now is that better treatments will come about soon to stop any further progression.

There are plenty of trials taking place world-wide and we hope to get Alex onto one of them soon.  But for now, we are working hard to raise as much money as we can to put into the hands of the world’s best scientists.   We’ve joined forces with the Duchenne Alliance – an alliance of 40+ international parent-led charities, like ourselves.  Most of the money we raise will go towards new exciting research projects that have the potential to improve lives and extend lives of children both locally and from across the world. Alex’s Wish are also an active member of the Duchenne Forum – a partnership between six UK charities dedicated to beating Duchenne. Between us we will accelerate progress in the search for effective treatments and eventually cures. The partnership is supporting seven pioneering Duchenne research projects, to which it will commit to £840,000 over the next four years.

We’ve made great progress… but this is just the start… and whatever happens we will never give up hope of making Alex’s wish come true.

Please continue to support our cause – donate, get involved our events, take part in your own events, help us spread the word, please do whatever you can to help boys like Alex lead better and longer lives.

We’d love you to keep in touch with our latest events and initiatives by keeping in touch with us on social media facebook and twitter.

A huge thank you to everyone who has supported our cause so far.

Andy & Emma Hallam – founders and Alex’s parents

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