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A walk to raise money inspired by a Princes colleague living with Motor Neurone Disease (MND) has smashed its target.
Justin Hammond, 50, a Sales Director for Liverpool headquartered Princes, was diagnosed with the degenerative disease 18 months ago. The disease has left Justin confined to bed and unable to move or speak.
On Wednesday, a group of Justin’s colleagues walked 35 miles from Liverpool to Sale – Justin’s daily commute – to raise awareness of the disease and the impact it is having on a much-loved friend and colleague. To date, they have raised over £42,000 for the MND Association.
Adam Norcott, a Sales Director for Princes, said, “Justin is a brilliant colleague and we wanted to show him how much he means to us all by doing this fund-raising walk in his name.
“A group of us set off in the early hours from the Royal Liver Building in Liverpool and walked for over 11 hours to Sale, close to Justin’s home.
“It was an incredible day, and it was great to be joined by Justin’s daughter Tilly along the way as well as a number of other supporters and family members.
“We had a WhatsApp group set up so we could post live photos all day and share messages with Justin, who was too unwell to join us for the last part of the walk.
“It meant he was able to follow our progress and, with his dad’s help and the eye gaze technology which now helps him to communicate, he could share his own notes of encouragement. At the end of the walk, we all took it in turns to pop in and talk to Justin.”
The Princes walking group included Joe Dent, chief people officer, sales directors Adam Norcott and Alastair Roberts, and general sales managers Andrew Payne, Keith Hughes and Carl Porschke.
MND affects the nerves known as motor neurones which are found in the brain and spinal cord and help to tell the muscles what to do.
With MND, over time messages from the motor neurones gradually stop reaching the muscles and they weaken, stiffen and waste which can affect how walking, talking, eating, drinking and breathing. The disease affects everyone in a different way. The disease is life-shortening and there is no cure.
Please follow the link to donate to A Walk for Justin via Just Giving https://www.justgiving.com/page/awalkforjustin7thdecember2022mnd
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