LJMU helps fundraising team reach new heights

05 September 2011

Liverpool John Moores University is opening facilities normally reserved for elite athletes and celebrities to help a dedicated fundraiser and her team to reach new heights.

The University is allowing a 20-strong team from Caring Matters Now to train in its altitude chamber ahead of their climb up Mount Kilimanjaro in October.  The team is led by Jodi Unsworth from Halewood, who has Congenital Melanocytic Naevi Syndrome, a rare skin condition which affects just 1 in 10,000 people in the UK.  Jodi founded Caring Matters Now to help support other people with the condition and to fund research at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London.

Congenital Melanocytic Naevi Syndrome (CMN Syndrome) causes birthmarks that can cover up to 80% of the body.  The syndrome can also affect the brain or spinal cord and many families can struggle for months or even years to get a diagnosis.  

Jodi, who endured more than 30 operations over 16 years, says Liverpool John Moores University is a great example of the support she and the charity have enjoyed from the people of Merseyside;

“I’m delighted the University has offered us the chance to train in the altitude chamber.  It’s fantastic to find organisations, businesses and people locally who are willing to help us to support families and learn more about the syndrome.  I went through so much because doctors were undecided about how best to treat CMN Syndrome.  That’s not something we want to see happen to anyone else which is why it’s so important for us to fund research and share existing knowledge about the condition.”   

The climbers will be put through physical and cognitive tests by a team led by Dr Ben Edwards, Senior Lecturer in Chronobiology and Environmental Physiology at LJMU.  Their climb up the 5,895 metres of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania starts on Sunday 2nd October and the team is aiming to raise £50,000.  

To support the Caring Matters Now climbers visit http://www.justgiving.com/teams/cmn/