80,000 and Counting

Invest in ME wrote.... 80,000 and Counting Let's Do It For Me Since its inception Invest in ME have campaigned for biomedical research into ME. With the Let’s do it for ME team we are, together with wonderful supporters, turning this into a reality. Now the research fund for biomedical research into ME has reached £80,000, thanks to the great ideas, efforts and commitment of so many great people. We have also had a truly generous donation of £3000 from one donor, who wishes to remain anonymous. We thank you all. LDIFME is a patient-driven campaign to raise awareness and vital funds for the  proposal for an examination and research facility that can lead to a centre of excellence for translational biomedical research into Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME). The centre would clinically assess, diagnose and treat patients. Working in a  collaborative way with international researchers and providing training and information for healthcare staff such a facility to drastically change the rate of progress in finding treatments or cures for ME.  The campaign is run by patients and carers who want the findings of high quality research to result in the development of appropriate treatments and who will not give up that hope for the future, despite the huge personal cost to their health that a lot of the campaigning has caused.  We began arranging our biomedical research conferences in our first year and have continued them ever since – recognising that the need for biomedical research into ME also needs a platform to show that research. At our IIMEC8 conference we focus on ME now becoming a mainstream research area and we have representatives from most of the main biomedical research initiatives now occurring throughout the world.  And thanks to supporters the UK will now be able to claim a promising project to add to the research base. We thank the LDIFME team and supporters and all the supporters of IiME and the research proposal. In stark contrast to the myths portrayed by some elements in the media, and by some establishment figures, the LDIFME campaign shows the true nature of people with ME and their families - looking to make progress and regain their health, using forward thinking and a can-do approach to raising awareness and making ME a mainstream illness. The campaign by ME patients and their families may not receive much publicity but, as we have said before, actions speak louder than awards.