Our community of funders in 2023 - meet the Duchenne army

Her Majesty The Queen has been one of our most steadfast supporters since we began the fight to end Duchenne, and we really appreciated her support in 2023.

From holding an event for us in February, to celebrating our Director of Research, Dr Alessandra Gaeta, on International Women’s Day for her leadership of our SMART Suit project.

Thank you to Her Majesty The Queen, for your support this year.

“Joining Jack, along with Alex’s Wish and the Duchenne Research Fund, are key funders of Duchenne UK. Our incredible partnership is founded on our determination to transform care and treatment for people with DMD. You can see what has been achieved in 2023 thanks to this special partnership.”

Alex Johnson OBE, Founder of Joining Jack and co-founder of Duchenne UK

“Working with Duchenne UK gives us the motivation and hope to continue our important work, we could not thank them enough for their support and encouragement over the years. We regularly talk and have meetings ensuring that we can effectively collaborate and work as efficiently as possible. We look forward to continuing our work with them in 2024.”

Emma Hallam, Founder of Alex’s Wish

Martin Offiah MBE, Andy Farrell OBE and Shaun Edwards OBE, gave their time to take part in an exclusive panel discussion to raise money for our vital work in assistive technology, specifically the SMART Suit. They took time out to support Duchenne UK at the event, ahead of the Rugby World Cup.

Duchenne UK’s flagship fundraising event is the Duchenne Dash, now in its 11th year. 158 riders cycled from London to Paris in 24 hours, raising £832,831.

Our founders, Emily and Alex, and their partners, Nick and Andy, all took part, along with our Chair, Krishnan Guru-Murthy. Keen supporters who couldn’t join the ride contributed via the Duchenne Dash AT HOME, cycling locally to contribute almost £40,000 to the total.

Since its inception, committed Duchenne Dashers have helped to raise £7.3 million towards our mission.

The Duchenne Dash 2024 rolls out from London on the 17th May 2024, arriving in Paris on Saturday 18th May for the riders’ gala dinner in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower. 

Thanks to a £1.25 million award from People’s Postcode Lottery, we are creating the SMART Suit, which will support the independence of people with DMD.

We are so thankful to our incredible community of fundraisers who always amaze us with their creativity and commitment to Duchenne UK. This year they’ve hiked up Mount Kilimanjaro, walked on the wings of an aircraft in flight and taken their kilts out for a stroll – to name just a few of their achievements!

Congratulations and well done to our team of dedicated runners who have taken on challenges for Duchenne UK this year, including raising £19,030 on the Royal Parks Half marathon, £2,750 on the London Marathon and £3,950 on the Great North Run.

Duvet Days – this was our cosiest fundraiser, perfect for the cold days of February. Families raised money by taking time out to ‘Du’ nothing, but still raising £28,998

Duchenneber – our annual advent calendar with festive photos of our families’ boys and siblings, which are shared on social media. 

As a charity set up by two mothers of DMD boys, we know the power and potential of families. All too often patients and families are left feeling utterly helpless, forced on a DMD journey with no say about what will happen.

To empower parents, we launched Family & Friends Funds – a simple way to raise money under their own child’s name without the headache of setting up their own charity. And families can choose which Duchenne UK projects they want to invest in.

Our first funds were set up in 2016. We now have 50 Family & Friends Funds. Together they have raised more than £3.6 million, and raised just over £330,000 during 2023 alone!

There are so many fundraising activities we could mention but here are a few that caught our eye this year: Henry’s Hills held a gala dinner in November which raised £20,000, fundraiser Jimmy Jackson walked a million steps for Moving Muscles for Marcus, and Oscar’s Duchenne Challengers completed the 45km Big Black Mountain challenge.

Interested in finding out more about Family & Friends Funds?

Get in touch with [email protected]

A landmark year of achievement and impact