MND Awareness Day 2026

June 21st is a special day in many ways: it's midsummer's day, it's my sister's birthday, but it's also MND Awareness Day.

You may have spotted that the Scottish Blood Bowl Community has recently been raising money for a couple of MND charities - with funds being raised at STC for MND Scotland and the latest Team Scotland charity drive for the My Name'5 Doddie Foundation.

MND has been in the news a lot recently after former England and British Lions rugby player Lewis Moody revealed his diagnosis, but there have been many famous cases including Rob Burrows, Professor Stephen Hawking and - of course - Doddie Weir himself.

George Wilson "Doddie" Weir OBE 4 July 1970 – 26 November 2022

What is MND?

MND is the abbreviation for Motor Neuron Disease. Motor neurons are specialised nerve cells that carry movement instructions from the brain and spinal cord to muscles and glands throughout your body. MND degrades and eventually destroys these vital cells meaning that sufferers of MND gradually lose control their muscles - including eating, walking, writing and eventually breathing. It's a disease that is always terminal and has no known cause or cure.

Whilst this is a great reason by itself to raise money to help MND research, the main reason the Scottish Community has been supporting this great cause is my own MND story: my wife Tracy was diagnosed in January 2025 after suffering symptoms for about 18 months and, following a difficult struggle with the disease, passed away in November.

However, the thing that's really helped me is the fantastic support from this special community - not only the fundraising (special thanks to all contributors including Ben, Jock and the whole of Team Scotland) but the offers of help & support - and the general camaraderie found in throwing dice and playing with toy soldiers among a bunch of like-minded souls. It would take too long to thank each individual personally in this article, so I'll just say that from the SBBC Committee through to the most casual player, everyone has been absolutely amazing and I thank you all sincerely.

The Scotland Away shirt - price includes a donation to the Doddie Weir Foundation

This brings me neatly on to a secondary for posting here. I know from experience that events off the table can sometimes make in-game setbacks feel much worse. Mental health is a often overlooked topic, but has thankfully been getting some attention of late. I've had a few community members offering to write articles about their own experiences in this area and I think it's crucial to shine a light on the topic. They will feature here as and when they're ready, but if you feel like you'd want to write something - on this subject or any other - there's a form here: https://forms.gle/FYJASx1JJkW9Nx1P6

If you feel a bit overwhelmed then first and foremost, get some professional help. There are myriad organisations out there including SAMH. It really helped me to talk about how I was feeling. Otherwise, try to get out and involve yourself in a community because human connection - even virtual, online interaction - is important. As Community Lead for the SBBC, it's part of my role that I have to speak to people, so feel free to join the Discord and get in touch. Also if you're at any of the upcoming Scottish Blood Bowl events that I'm at, Bilbali in Bilbao or even EuroBowl in Poland - I'd love to catch up at any of these for a chat and (facilities willing) a drink.

In the meantime, look after yourselves and may your rolls be ever 6s and POWs.