On the 1st of October, Joseph’s Goal turns 14, we can’t quite get our heads around that.
Joe was born with Non-Ketotic Hyperglycinemia (NKH), an incredibly rare genetic condition, he recently turned 17 🙂
Back then, the prognosis was frightening, research was limited and there were very few answers for families.
Doing nothing wasn’t an option. Joe’s family needed to do something, so in 2012, Joseph’s Goal was created.
The aim was simple: raise money for NKH research and give researchers the best possible chance of finding better treatments and, eventually, a cure.
Fourteen years later, that is still what drives us.
From one family to a much bigger community
Joseph’s Goal began with Joe and his family, but it didn’t stay small for long.
People started getting involved.
Friends and family helped. Supporters organised events. Businesses donated. Wigan Athletic and Wigan Warriors got behind the charity.
Then came the walks, bike rides, marathons, charity matches, fundraising nights, raffles, lottery members and countless individual challenges.
We’ve done it all!
Some supporters have been with us from the beginning. Together, they have helped turn our family’s need to do something into a community that now stretches far beyond Wigan and across the world.
Fourteen years of pushing NKH research forward
The fundraising has always had a purpose.
Money raised through Joseph’s Goal has helped support NKH research for many years, including work led by Professor Nick Greene at University College London.
Researchers are now exploring potential new treatments, including different forms of gene therapy and mRNA therapy.
At the same time, they continue to learn more about NKH and how it affects the body.
There is still a long way to go.
Still doing something
Fourteen years gives us plenty to look back on, but Joseph’s Goal was never about standing still.
There is still research to fund, and it is expensive.
So we keep going.
To everyone who has walked, run, cycled, donated, sponsored, organised, bought a lottery ticket, attended an event or simply helped spread the word over the last 14 years, thank you.
You took one family’s need to do something and helped turn it into 14 years of action.
And we are nowhere near finished yet.
