Let's Do It for ME!: Introducing

We hope you will love this idea as much as we do and encourage any individuals, groups, organisations, local businesses, to take part.

UK Rituximab Trial -Let's Do It

Help Us Perform Biomedical Research into ME

Take a slot in the Matrix to Raise Funds for the UK Rituximab Trial

Inspired by a £1000 donation to the UK Rituximab Treatment Trial JustGiving page, the Let's do it for ME team have come up with an idea to help raise awareness and funds for this important biomedical research into understanding and finding effective treatments for ME.

The aim of the The Matrix project is to help to raise as much as possible of the £350,000 required to fund this trial by inviting 100 pledges to raise or donate £1000 each.

Invest in ME will coordinate the fundraising for this trial.

The charity has already invited other charities and organisations to support us in funding this trial.

We invite everyone to participate.

How the MATRIX Works

Each of the initial 100 slots in the Matrix has a value of £1000.

If those taking part manage to exceed their £1000 target, then so much the better for the future and progress of our strategy for biomedical research and treatment.

If the £1000 target is not reached then it does not matter - as every £1 helps and there is no pressure to fulfil the pledge.

These are pledges until the funds are received by the charity and so may be withdrawn or halted by the prospective donor at any time until then for whatever reason they may have.

For those pledging via a fundraising effort, we will be happy to create a JustGiving page for anyone wishing us to do so on their behalf. We can also provide sponsorship forms, collection vessels, and awareness materials. Please just let us know your needs.

For every £1000 pledged, raised or donated, one slot may be taken, so that those who raise £2000 could fill two slots if they so wish, and so on.

There is no upper limit to the number of slots that one donor may fill.

The slots may be taken by individuals, groups or even companies.

The slots do not have to be solely in the UK - we invite our international friends to take part.

There is no time limit on when each £1000 must be donated but the sooner these fund are raised, the sooner the trial may begin, as there are no foreseen obstacles bar the funding.

Let's Do It For ME/Invest in ME have initiated this idea to get a UK rituximab trial started as soon as possible.

As each of these initial slots is taken we will highlight the donor or fundraising initiative and link to individual pages or sites, and provide an ongoing status on the projects.

If we have more than 100 applicants then we can create more slots, aiming to build to 1000 x £1000 for biomedical ME research, and just imagine what that would achieve?!

The UK rituximab trial has been initiated by Invest in ME and our advisor, Professor Jonathan Edwards, Emeritus Professor of Connective Tissue Medicine at University College London (UCL), and the research team at UCL. Professor Edwards was responsible for both the phase I and the proof of concept phase II (NEJM 2004) studies in rheumatoid arthritis , which formally established the validity of B cell depletion in autoimmune disorders.

At our recent BRMEC meeting Dr Jo Cambridge from UCL played a significant role in proceedings. Professor Edwards joined our IIMEC8 conference in London and has discussed with the Norwegian Haukeland researchers who are conducting clinical trials with rituximab.

If you would like to take one of the slots in the 100 x 1000 matrix then click one of the Free slots in the Matrix (use the link highlighted below) and add your contact details to the form which will send us an email. Specify your contact details, your fundraising idea or direct donation, and any text/images you would like us to use to build your page in the matrix.

If you would like to donate to this fund by another method then please see the How to Donate options on the rituximab trial page.

If you feel you can support us in any way - by fundraising, by spreading word of this, or by simply letting us know that you agree with us then we welcome that support.

Click here to find out more about the UK rituximab trial.

Click here to find out more about the Let's do it for ME awareness and fundraising campaign.

We invite you to join The Matrix - Let's do it for ME!

Click here to see the IiME UK Rituximab Trial Donation Matrix