The whys and wherefores
As a relatively new Rotarian, I felt I should begin my Wrynose campaign by including my club as my principal charity. As Rotary International is currently in partnership with Bill Gates of Microsoft fame, pledging to raise funds to rid the world of polio, it seemed a good place to start. Rotary also has other charities and initiatives, and it therefore seems appropriate that a quarter of any money raised should be donated to Rotary funds.
My second charity is Rainbow House, a children’s charity in Lancashire. Rainbow House was set up by the mother of two disabled children to help families and children with neurological disorders. We have done some print work for them at Pagefast and have also raised funds for their annual dinner programme. It would be nice to be able to help out in other ways, too, and so I’ve put them on my list.
I have a more personal interest in my third and fourth charities. My wife suffers from a neurological disorder called blepharospasm, or dystonia – involuntary spasm – of the muscles around the eyes. The only treatments are the injection of botox toxins into the muscles every three months or so or operation directly on the eye muscles, and neither is a total cure. No one knows why this condition affects some people or what starts it off. The Dystonia Society provides support for those affected by dystonia and seeks to ‘raise awareness of the condition, particularly among the medical profession, through education and the promotion of research’.
Finally, I hope to raise some money for ARC, the Arthritis Research Campaign.
I suffer from ankylosing spondylitis, an arthritis condition. Most people with the disease don’t lose much time off work or suffer in the same way that you would with, say, rheumatoid arthritis, so if you have to suffer from arthritis this is as good a type to have as any. It can still be nasty, though. When I was younger an infection triggered a chronic reaction that put me in hospital for three weeks and attacked every joint in my body. They thought I might not walk again. I was off work for 14 weeks, limped for three years, and still have relapses every three years or so. Happily, in between attacks I have been fit enough to complete two triathlons and many running and cycling events. That there was a possibility of being disabled gave me the incentive to make myself as active as possible.
In other news: The die is cast. My Greg LeMond training bike arrived today, and if the effort I expended getting it unpacked and installed in position is anything to go by, the training has already started…
