Charities We Support
Please support The Marfan Trust and Race Against Dementia
What is our story, and why are we supporting these charities?
It all started with a poster on LinkedIn, advertising the ‘Cannonbawz Run’ in Scotland. MD Irwen Martin has a passion for performance cars, on and off the road. The Cannonbawz Run originated by Kris O’Neill, immediately presented itself as an opportunity to enjoy performance cars AND raise money for charity at the same time.
Kris’s brother Liam was diagnosed with Marfan Syndrome, and as a family, they searched for support and answers. It became clear that funding was needed for essential research into the condition. Kris made it his mission to start fund-raising and the ‘Cannonbawz Run’ was born in 2015, an organised run for car and scenery lovers to enjoy a 250 or 500 mile drive around Scotland’s North East coast.
Being a participant raises funds and talking about it raises awareness, and so does sharing posts and information on social media channels and websites. So there is something that everyone can do – please check out the links below, find out more, and share what you discover.
Please contact Kris on LinkedIn if you would like to support, sponsor or participate in the Cannonbawz Run.
Who is the Marfan Trust?
The Marfan Trust’s three main objectives are to:
- Provide support and medical guidance to those affected and their families;
- Provide educational literature on Marfan syndrome and all its aspects to the medical profession and the general public, thus raising awareness of the condition; and to
- Fund medical research projects that aim to aid the diagnosis and treatment of Marfan syndrome patients
Marfan Syndrome
Marfan syndrome is an inherited disorder of the body’s connective tissue that leads to medical problems affecting the heart, eyes and skeleton, requiring treatment to prevent life-threatening complications.
It affects men, women and children of any race or ethnic group. Over 18,000 people are affected by Marfan syndrome in the UK, with many more likely to be living with it undiagnosed.
Who is behind Race Against Dementia?
Race Against Dementia is a global charity, founded by Sir Jackie Stewart, to fund pioneering research into the prevention and cure of dementia.
The mission and vision:
“Working faster and smarter, together we can beat dementia”
Race Against Dementia raises and allocates funds to accelerate global research and development in the race to find a prevention or treatment for dementia.
Their vision is a breakthrough in the prevention or treatment of dementia with the greatest of urgency.
Race Against Dementia are achieving this through 4 key principles:
NEW TALENT. Identifying and financially backing the most talented early-career researchers.
INNOVATION. Providing catalyst funding, enabling researchers to pursue innovative ideas at the highest level, that might not get funded by the mainstream.
SPEED. Instilling a ‘Formula 1 attitude’ in attention to detail and urgency, to accelerate the pace of solutions development.
GLOBAL. Forming strong alliances with research centres of excellence on a global basis.
