Possibly foolish. I’m riding in the Liverpool to Chester cycle and raising money for the St Paul’s Research Foundation Trust at NHS Royal Liverpool Hospital. Sounds like a nice time, except I foolishly will be using my single-gear bike and, even more foolishly, my old, tired body complete with dodgy knees and larger than strictly necessary belly*. Update: definitely foolish.
Sponsorship money goes toward sight-saving research. There are currently 2.5 million people in the UK living with sight loss; every six minutes someone is told they are going blind. This figure is expected to grow to 3.5 million by 2050; and yet our services are already struggling with the ever increasing demands as our population ages.
The Foundation, like many other charities, have seen a dramatic dip in their donations in the last year but there hasn’t been a drop in the need. This Foundation supports research at all stages, from bench to bedside and onward to patient care. It has supported excellent work over the years. One of the great strengths of this charity is that it can support exciting and risky projects in a way that is hard garner support for through other mechanisms, yet these ground-breaking projects open new doors and opportunities.
If you can throw some support this way it would be appreciated. A little motivation for me and, even better, you’ll support sight-saving research. – Link to justgiving page
There are a team of us doing the ride this weekend including my colleague from the research side Dr Viktoria Kearns, members of the surgical team at St Paul’s eye unit.
*I’m not an avid cyclist. I have a little commuter single gear/fixie, which is great for the 5km of almost flat journey to and from work. I’m less convinced by the 40 km/25 miles (each way) to Chester. I’m even less convinced by the 2.5km uphill section near the start (coming out of the Mersey tunnel), nor the other mounds en route.
Update will follow after the event.
LaNts and Laminins 
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