Walking The Wall for Daina in 2025

Before I sign off for the Christmas holidays, I wanted to tell you about my New Year’s resolution/Charity fundraiser for 2025.

As regular visitors to this site will be aware, I lost my aunt Daina to Motor Neurone Disease in April of this year. Daina was a tireless fundraiser and advocate for better treatment of MND patients. It was an honour to publish her memoir, My Life With MND, in December 2022. This book gained her a BBC Radio Cumbria Make A Difference Award in 2023, and continues to be an EIF bestseller, raising funds to help those living with this incurable and debilitating disease.

Daina’s local branch of the MND Association would often arrange get-togethers for MND sufferers and their family members, to provide support and raise vital funds. These meetings included walks for those who could manage them, and were both heart-warming and life-affirming occasions. Daina would always come along and encourage me and other family members to join her. We had many beautiful and memorable days out:

Continuing this tradition, in Daina’s memory, I intend to walk the Hadrian’s Wall path from South Shields to Bowness on Solway over the course of the year (a total distance of 91 miles). I have decided to do this in stages, so that my family can also take part: it will be the perfect opportunity to remember Daina, and celebrate all that she achieved during her lifetime.

I will update you on my progress with regular blog posts detailing each stage of the walk, which has a fascinating heritage and history.

You can find out more about this challenge, and (if you wish) donate to my MND fundraiser at Justgiving.com

Wishing you all the best for the holiday season: see you in 2025!

Ingrid