Kevin Sinfield’s marathon fund-raising pot doubles for MND

The money raised for motor neurone disease from Kevin Sinfield’s ‘7 in 7’ marathon challenge has been doubled after a medical research charity agreed to match it.

Sinfield’s efforts raised £2.2million for the MND Association in total in support of his friend and former Leeds team-mate Rob Burrow, who was diagnosed with the condition in December 2019.

Of that funding, £500,000 was targeted directly to research and LifeArc, a medical research charity, has now matched it, to boost research funding by £1m in total.

INSPIRATION: Kevin Sinfield passes £2m mark after marathon challenge for good friend Rob Burrow

Sinfield said: “This is fantastic news and an amazing contribution from LifeArc. When we set out to complete the 7 in 7 Challenge we hoped to raise awareness and funds to support the MND community but it is wonderful to see the inspiration it has given people and organisations, like LifeArc, so they too can support the need for more research.

“We have seen over the last year the vital work that can be done by researchers and scientists when they are given the resources they need.

“MND is not incurable, it has just been under-funded and our hope – like that of everyone affected by this brutal disease including Rob – is that this money will make a real difference and help find the breakthrough we all desperately want.”

STORY: Rob Burrow: Too Many Reasons to Live autobiography released in August

Every day in the UK six people are diagnosed with the disease, which targets the nerves which control movement. Half will die within two years of diagnosis.

The funding will support research into developing new treatments and the repurposing of existing drugs which are used to treat other conditions.