The Scottish March of the Day has a core team that all have their different motivations for taking part. Many of them share their reasons for taking part here. 

Over 7 years ago I was given the devastating news I was dreading… I was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease with a prognosis of 2 to 5 years to live.

Not long after that diagnosis I received a phone call from a number I didn’t recognise. When I answered the call it was Scottish Rugby legend Doddie Weir on the other end to ask how I was getting on. This gave me a huge boost at a very difficult time.

Doddie’s positivity inspired me massively. I realised I still had a life to live and decided that I would not accept the prognosis given to me. I would fight MND every step of the way to hopefully see my kids grow up.

Since that day, we as a family along with many friends, have raised some much needed awareness and over £83,000 for MND charities.

I am honoured to be involved with the Scottish March of the Day due to my footballing background. And although I will be only able to walk a few hundred yards of the route. I am so grateful to my four former football teammates who have agreed to complete the full route on my behalf along with the rest of the walkers who are giving so much of their time and effort to support the MND community.

Thank you everyone.

After 18 months of hospital appointments, my Dad was alone in a room with a consultant when he was told he had Motor Neurone Disease (MND). MND is a life-shortening illness that can affect how you walk, talk, eat, drink, breathe, think and behave. For as long as I am fit and healthy I will bang the drum for my Dad and every single person impacted by MND.

My family was totally blindsided by Dad’s diagnosis – we had no idea what to expect and we all hoped his would be slow progressing. Sadly only 20 months after his diagnosis, the brutal nature of MND had taken its toll on my dad who I can’t remember ever being ill before MND. My Dad had deteriorated so much faster than expected, he’d lost a lot of weight, and his lung capacity was seriously compromised when he was rushed into hospital. After two rollercoaster weeks it was clear he was never going to come home. I held my Dad’s hand as he took his very last breath on the evening of 20th April 2018.

Thanks to the wonderful Rob Burrow, Doddie Weir, Marcus Stewart, Stephen Darby (the list goes on) using their profiles and platforms to bravely share their own experiences of living with MND there is a lot more awareness than when my Dad was diagnosed and it is heartwarming for me to see so many people taking on epic challenges to raise vital funding for MND charities.

I will continue to support the MND community any way I can, in my dad’s memory and for all of the warriors I have met or am still to meet. My why over the years has just kept getting bigger. In 2022, my close friend Nicola called me to say her husband Paul had been told he had MND. She knows I will be beside her throughout this journey and will support their beautiful family any way I can.

This is such a caring community to be part of and I will keep saying yes to the challenges coming my way. I am very proud to be part of the Darby Rimmer Team as one of the core team of walkers for the Scottish March of the Day. Together we can help to change the dial on this horrendous and cruel disease and hopefully the prognosis will be a more positive one for families like mine.

In 2023 I left my job of 36 years in the NHS to become full time carer for my brother Gary who had brain cancer. We had both always been big Ipswich Town fans and Marcus Stewart was our favourite modern era player. It was literally the day after Gary’s funeral that I saw March of the Day advertised on Facebook. I was rather lost and no longer knew what my role in life could possibly be, but decided to register to support Marcus after his diagnosis and maybe even get the opportunity to say hello to him! I had lost a friend to MND in 2017 so also wanted to walk in her memory and raise some funds. Being Gary’s carer for 2 and a half years had affected my health and mobility and I doubted whether I would even manage to walk a single stage – but I did it. Four months later I was honoured to walk with Marcus in Bristol on ‘Stewart’s Sports Tour’ and the rest is history! Scottish March of the Day is my fifth walk for the Darby Rimmer MND Foundation and I was very honoured to be asked to join the core team this time round. On each walk I have met people who are living with MND or family members walking in memory of a loved one, so I will be thinking of all those people. I am proud to be walking for each of them whilst raising awareness and funding – and each stage I walk will be dedicated to one of those I have met. They will be my focus and inspiration to get through it.

We will all keep walking and banging that drum until a cure is found!

Continuing the fight to find a cure for MND and the team banging the Drum

From knowing nothing about this cruel disease to being asked to be Patron of the Darby Rimmer MND foundation by my mate Darbs…

I am so proud to stand with everyone who has being and still is effected by MND and

I truly believe that the Darby Rimmer Foundation WILL find the breakthrough!!

A TRULY INSPIRING GROUP OF AMAZING PEOPLE and non other than my why, my mate Darbs x

Helping raising awareness, support funding and connecting with wider MND community ❤️

My friend was diagnosed with MND over 7 years ago, I’m proud to be involved with this event and hope to raise awareness of the impact this disease has on sufferers and their families and to support research into finding a cure for MND

Having met Stephen six years back , I was taken with the stoicism and optimism he had about the MND fight ahead. I was only too glad to be part of this great combined effort between Darby Rimmer and My Name Is Doddie to raise awareness and funds to help combat this disease.

What a privilege to be part of the support team again for the first ‘Scottish March of the Day’. I’m always full of admiration for the walkers in these challenges…their determination, camaraderie and resilience is so inspiring. It’s really important to me to play my part in the support team, encouraging and guiding everyone through the full event, knowing that together we can create significant change in the lives of those suffering with MND and their families. So looking forward to it, I’ll be the one with the huge box of chocolate & sweets 😊

Proud to be part of a great team supporting Scottish March of the Day and helping raising awareness and funding for MND.

Since Darbs was diagnosed with MND he has been an inspiration. Anything I can do to help raise money to support research and awareness for everyone affected!

Since taking a call from Mike in 2019 about an idea of Steps for Stephen I’ve been here to do what I can with others, and together we are Marching oN to Defeat MND

I am proud to be supporting Scottish March of the Day for MND because the fight against this cruel disease is very close to my heart. During my time on the medical staff at Rochdale FC, I had the privilege of meeting Darbs and becoming close friends with him and Stephy. His diagnosis came as a huge shock, but the way he has faced it—with courage, positivity, and determination—has been nothing short of inspiring. Like so many others, I often felt helpless as a friend, but I made a vow to do what I can to raise awareness and funds to support those battling MND and to help push towards a cure.

As an avid Ipswich Town fan and someone who has had the honour of working as a therapist for the club, the news of Marcus Stewart’s diagnosis was another tough blow. Marcus is an Ipswich legend, and seeing him and Louise throw their energy behind the Darby Rimmer Foundation has only strengthened my resolve to play my part.

Supporting this walk gives me the chance to stand alongside them, to bang the drum, and to contribute to a cause that desperately needs our attention. This is about friendship, community, and hope—and I’m proud to walk on behalf of them all. This team is unbreakable and will not stop..!! X

As the RunMND motto says

#NoFinishLineUntilThereIsACureForMND