02/12/2025
Match of the Day presenter Kelly Cates and Hamish Weir, son of the late Scotland rugby international and MND campaigner Doddie Weir, star in a video to launch Doddie Aid 2026, the UK’s biggest fitness fundraiser for motor neuron disease research.
This year’s campaign places inclusion at its heart, encouraging people of all fitness levels to take part under the theme ‘Do Doddie Aid Your Way’ – with every step and every minute of movement contributing to funding research through My Name’5 Doddie Foundation.
Hamish, 24, who was recently appointed Scotland captain for Doddie Aid 2026, appears as one of the video’s roving reporters and says the campaign marks the right moment for him to help drive his father’s legacy forward.
Participants in Doddie Aid 2026 pay £20 to sign up, and can log their activity throughout January via the Doddie Aid app using any form of exercise – including walking the dog, cycling to work, swimming, taking the stairs, or attending gym and fitness classes. All money raised goes towards supporting My Name’5 Doddie Foundation’s efforts to fund research in an effort to find treatment and one day a cure for MND.
Doddie Aid was founded by former Scotland captain Rob Wainwright, a close friend of Doddie, and has raised millions for MND research since its inception. The campaign honours rugby great Doddie Weir, who died in 2022 following a six-year battle with the disease. The Foundation he established continues to invest heavily in research, including a £4m Discovery Network announced this year – the largest single research investment in its history. The Foundation has so far committed more than £20m to research projects.