AFTER six weeks of running, rowing and riding, almost 40,000 fundraisers have helped raise more than £2m for My Name’5 Doddie Foundation.

Organisers have hailed a record-setting Doddie Aid, the charity’s first major fundraising event following the death of founder Doddie Weir in November, six years after his Motor Neurone Disease (MND) diagnosis.

The impressive total is more than double what was raised last year.

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Now, more than £4m has been raised as a direct result of Doddie Aid in the three years since it was founded by former Scotland captain Rob Wainwright.

The annual mass participation event runs for six weeks from January 1 each year. The 2023 fundraiser came to its conclusion when Wainwright and a team of rugby legends completed their journey transporting the match ball for the Doddie Weir Cup – Scotland’s Six Nations fixture against Wales – from Cardiff to Murrayfield.

The Doddie Cup 555, as it’s known, raised nearly £700K alone.

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Wainwright, who was a close friend of Weir, said: “When we first started to design the event, we never thought it would have this much impact – the way people have rallied around to make this such an incredible fundraiser is beyond our wildest dreams. When we finally end MND, every single person who took part or fundraised will be able to say they played their part.

“But it doesn’t stop here. After a short break we’ll go straight into planning for Doddie Aid 2024, which we believe can be even bigger.”

My Name’5 Doddie Foundation’s director of fundraising, Paul Thompson, said: “We are extremely grateful to everyone who has helped to raise this incredible sum of money, which we will be able to commit to groundbreaking research into Motor Neuron Disease.

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“It was our first Doddie Aid since Doddie’s death, and the response has been immense. What’s even more heartening is how many people are planning to do major fundraisers in the months ahead. We won’t stop until we’ve delivered Doddie’s legacy of a world free of MND.”

Among those who supported this year were Olympians Dame Katherine Grainger and Sir Chris Hoy, actors Ewan McGregor and Ryan Reynolds, musician Lewis Capaldi and television stars Jason Fox and Gabby Logan, as well as a whole host of well-known faces from the world of rugby.

To find out more and support the foundation, please visit myname5doddie.co.uk.