Anderson Strathern has announced its new charity of the year – My Name’5 Doddie Foundation

Every year, our firm’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Committee provides the opportunity for employees to select a new charity that will become the focal point of our charitable efforts. For the year 2023-2024, the chosen organisation is ‘My Name’5 Doddie Foundation‘; creator and founder of the organisation, Doddie Weir, is a former Scottish Rugby player who was diagnosed with motor neuron disease (MND) in 2016.

My Name’5 Doddie Foundation promotes research, raises awareness, and offers support for people affected by motor neurone disease. The organisation focuses on two vital areas. Firstly, it funds cutting-edge research into finding new treatments for the disease. Secondly, it ensures that those living with motor neurone disease have access to support, allowing them to live as independently as possible.

My Name’5 Doddie Foundation has a clear vision: A World Free of MND and is committed to the relentless pursuit of this goal. It intends to achieve this by investing funds into the most promising research to develop effective treatments for MND. The Foundation has already committed over £8 million to research and has been a key member in the United to End MND campaign, which secured a commitment for £50M for MND research from the UK Government.

Jane Rutherford, Anderson Strathern’s Head of Knowledge and Development and the head of our CSR committee commented

“We believe that the work of My Name’5 Doddie Foundation is inspiring, important, and necessary. We all know about Doddie’s remarkable spirit and strength in what he achieved in his lifetime and with his foundation. We believe we can make an impact in helping to reach the foundations goals.”

Our Chair, Fraser Geddes, also expressed his enthusiasm about the new partnership, saying

“We are incredibly motivated by our new partnership with My Name’5 Doddie Foundation. It’s an honour for us to support such an important cause and be a part of the effort to raise awareness for motor neuron disease. It’s a cause particularly close to my heart and we truly believe that by working closely with the foundation, we can make a meaningful impact in the fight against this debilitating disease. Our hope is that through our collaboration, we can help drive critical funding towards research that will lead to the discovery of a potential cure.”

Paul Thompson, Director of Fundraising at My Name’5 Doddie Foundation commented:

“The support of companies such as Anderson Strathern plays a key role in our ability to invest in research and it’s incredibly appreciated, both by ourselves and the wider MND community too.

“We’d like to thank everyone at Anderson Strathern for getting involved and look forward to hearing how you get on in the step challenge and your other fundraising activities throughout the year”.

The fundraising kicks off with the firm participating in the May and June step challenge. This will encourage colleagues to move more while also raising money for the charity. The idea is to get everyone on board by participating in a healthy and practical activity while raising essential funds. It’s sure to be a worthy challenge.

Over the next year, we will partake in a variety of fundraising efforts, hoping to surpass the £10,000+ that we raised for our previous charity partner, SAMH. We are looking forward to the year ahead and supporting the work of the My Name’5 Doddie Foundation. We are convinced that by working together, we can make a difference and help achieve Doddie’s vision of a brighter future for those affected by motor neuron disease.