British actor Eddie Redmayne, who won an Oscar in 2015 for his portrayal of Professor Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything, is fronting a new charity campaign as part of Motor Neurone Disease (MND) Awareness Month.
The 34-year-old, who says that the “incredibly brutal illness” is of deep personal significance to him, is leading a new storytelling campaign which aims to help MND sufferers share their stories and experiences through poetry and spoken-word storytelling.
The campaign kicked off with a powerful poem from MND sufferer and property lawyer, Robert Davidson, which Redmayne introduced in a YouTube video which campaigners hope will garner much attention in coming weeks.
“I want as many people as possible to watch – and share – the video, so that understanding of MND will be greater in the future,” Redmayne said.
Chris James, director of external affairs for the MND Association, said: “With Eddie’s assistance and Robert’s wonderful video and poem, both specially recorded for our campaign, so many more people will realise exactly what a diagnosis of MND means.”
There are around 5,000 people currently living with MND across the UK.
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