​​​​​One day in June 2015 i wanted to do something for the charity of "The Motor Neurone Disease  Association" in raising awareness of the awful disease that takes away peoples dignity and lives.

​Back in 2007 

My mother and father went on holiday to Stafford and went off exploring the area,

One day they parked up in a loose stoned car park, Mum got out of the car and on walking to the exit noticed their was something wrong with her foot as it was dragging and her big toe was bleeding due to her wearing sandals.

18They soon had to sell their three bedroom home in Middlewich, Cheshire due to not being able to use the stairs and the home was to small for a stairlift or any  other equipment that she would need in the future

Moving to a bungalow in Alsager, Staffordshire and preparing for their uncertain future.

In late August 2013 due to my relationship breakdown I decided to move back into the area to be nearer family but also being naïve on my mothers situation, I was staying with my parents until i sorted my own life out and find a place of my own,

My father asked me a couple of times how i was doing finding somewhere to live and soon after found a one bedroom property, 

But a couple of months after my father was diagnosed with Mesothelioma, a cancer caused by working with asbestos back in his younger days when there was no such thing as health & safety like thee is today, Now begins a new  life for the whole family including my sister & her family.

I became the main carer for both my Mother and Father and with my sisters help with their care also taking them to hospital appointments  etc , 

We had few community care workers and companies, between them and my sister i was able to get a couple of days off per week and spent them at my property which now became not my home but a place to go for respite, I was also trying to decorate and furnish it in this time.   

Things got very much worse fast for my father and within six months peacefully passed way in Hospital on his birthday in 2014.

Now it was time to  pull up my big boy pants with no help and advice  from dad on how to look after mum,

we struggled through as by this time she could not walk, talk, dress herself or anything else you and i take for granted, Therefor i needed more help from carers and my sister as there was some things not that i couldn't do but i wouldn't do as a dignity thing to my mother. MND is still not known as it should be, but we are getting there,

If anyone asks me what  is MND ? My answer is simple, Strap yourself into a straight jacket and tape your mouth up so you cannot talk and stay like this for a minimum of three years 24/7 then think of there mined set, MND doesn't affect the brain so suffers know exactly what's going on within their death sentence.

Today and every day 6 people will be diagnosed with MND that's 5,000 per year with a life expectancy of 3 to 5 years.

​Hazel was diagnosed in 2007 and passed away January 2022,  fifteen years I wouldn't say battling more like living with this awful disease.​ 

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SO WHAT IS MOTOR NEURONE DISEASE . . .

                                                                                    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"IM NOT FRIGHTENED ANYMORE"

In 2015 my parents were approached by a local newspaper,

this was the article on their life living with the condition >>>>

For Hazel that nightmare came a reality four years ago and now motor neurone disease (MND) has left the once 74 year old without the use of her legs, right arm,  her speech and she can no longer swallow properly, so eating via a peg in her stomach. But worse of all Hazel is fully aware of this condition that little by little is taking away her life. "When they told me i had three to five years to live i was shattered" says Hazel who communicates by pushing  a stick in her left hand onto letters on a computer. MND affects 100.000 each year, it is a progressive neuro-degenerative disease that attacks the upper and lower motor neurones in the brain. It is a terminal illness that leads to muscle weakness and wasting, causing loss of mobility in the limbs and difficulties in speech,  swallowing and breathing. Hazel says "its a very cruel disease and no two people are the same, No one  can tell you how and why you've got it either - its awful." Through it all, however, it is Hazels positive attitude  and the devotion of husband Leslie,  Hazels sole carer, that is truly expiring . A nurse most of her life at Cranage Hall Hospital, Near Holmes Chapel in Cheshire, Hazel was used to an active life style before MND struck.

In retirement, thee couple had travelled the country to offer pet sitting service. "The effect it can have is dramatic and devastating ," says Leslie aged 79, who married Hazel in 1959, after getting together following a night out at the Ritz dance hall in Manchester, The couple have two children, five grandchildren and a great-grand child.

"We were in Stafford when Hazel came downstairs saying she wasn't feeling to good" Leslie recalls.  "We  went out for a drive for some fresh air, but when she got out of the car and started walking we noticed  her toe's were bleeding ,  Her feet had just dropped and that was the start of it.

That was in June 2006 and by Christmas that year was in a wheelchair, Even so it took 14 months and several private consultations before a diagnosis of MND was given 

Sentinel Newspaper 2015

Hazel passed away January 2022  ( cause of death pips on lungs & not ALS )

Les passed away in April 2014 - ( cause of death mesothelioma lung cancer )

Both peacefully in hostpital.

I would like to mention, like in most cases that i hear about MND did not win, it was pods in her lungs that took her life away.

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​​Please donate your stamps and currency to Stamp Out MND and help us transform the lives of people living with Motor neurone Disease, Their families & carers and into finding a cure in the UK 

I am asking for volunteers in companies, shops, religious venues, scout & girl guide groups, schools, colleges and asking family members, and  individuals, house clearance, unwanted collections,etc 

​

i am asking for donations of                                                                                                                                            

WORLDWIDE BANK NOTES,                                             WORLDWIDE USED POSTAGE STAMPS                          WORLDWIDE COINS,                                                         STAMP ALBUMS, 

OBSOLETE CURRENCY,                                                   COLLECTIVE STAMPS,

COMMEMORATIVE COLLECTIONS,                                 COMMEMORATIVE COLLECTIONS,

 POPULAR THEMES SETS,                                                POPULAR THEME SETS,

GOLD & SILVER COINS,                                                     PRESENTATION PACKS,

SOVERIEGNS,                                                                     FIRST DAY COVERS,

PLATINUM COINS,                                                               POSTCARDS,                                                     

PRESENTATION PACKS 

                                                      & MANY MORE ...........

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SO HOW ARE THESE TURNED INTO MUCH NEEDED FUNDS FOR THE CHARITY ?

Once your donation has been recieved it is then put into a box 

Once i have recieved a minimum of 20kg they are then packed up and sent away for processing

They are then sorted into categories, singles and/or sets

then sells them on the internet to collectors all over the globe, wether it be from thier own website or selling sites.

I then recieve a payment of what stamps are worth upto around £20 per Kilo 

The payment is then sent to the MNDA Fundraising team

That is then used to fund searching for a cure plus helping sufferers, thier families & carers.

​#thestampman  #xchangemaster

​

Raising over £9.5k donated to MNDA SINCE 2015 

June 2015/16 ----

June 2016/17 £1495.10                                              June 2017/18 £780.00

June 2018/19 £790.00                                                June 2019/20  £850.00

June 2020/21 £1295.78                                              June 2021/22 £1576.86

June 2022/23 £2566.19                                              June 2023/24 £545.07

June 2024/25 £----.--

Total £9899.00

raised from donators, volenteers, recycling, ebay, wix, justgiving.

  ​                       Donating Cash Direct  To "The Motor Neurone Disease Association" Get Involved | MND Association