Motor Sport for MS

Raising money for the MS Society – Meeting Noel Wilson at the CSCC Brands Hatch Bonanza – Saturday 04th June 2016

Meeting Noel Wilson

The latest motorsport event that Bill Rawles Classic Cars attended was the CSCC  Brands Hatch Bonanza on Saturday 04th June 2016. Jack Rawles and Hugo Holland Bosworth were racing the Rawles Austin Healey 3000 MK II A in the Mintex sponsored Classic K (Pre-1966 FIA) 60 minute race. We met Noel Wilson and his mobility scooter in the paddock. Noel was getting ready to set a lap record in it. Noel is a very special person, who is raising money for The Multiple Sclerosis Society. He was a motorsport instructor in the corporate industry for 20 years and in 2013 was diagnosed with MS.

After being diagnosed with MS Noel wants to put something back in while he still can. His aim is to raise £20,000.00 for The Multiple Sclerosis Society. With his love of motorsport, Noel came up with a novel idea of setting an official time for an 8mph mobility scooter for every motorsport circuit/venue in the UK (for a start). Nobody has ever set official race track lap times on a mobility scooter before.

Noel has his sights on setting lap time records not just on race tracks but Rally X  Circuits, Drag Strips, Hill Climbs, Sprint Circuits and Stock Car Short Ovals, in fact anything that caters for wheels.

Noels mobility scooter has been wrapped in KCMG LMP2 Le Mans 2015 winning colours, the lap times are recorded with a transponder fitted at all of the venues, Stand 21 have supplied the race overalls embroidered with the Motor Sport for MS Logo on his helmet, race boots, race gloves and even his HANS unit.

We spent some time chatting to Noel. It was Noel who pointed out that the Healey and his mobility scooter where both Number 47. Noel noted that it was a good number to have.

Noel said “Great to meet you Jack and thank you for making a donation. Good luck with the racing this year. I will be keeping an eye on you and good luck with your coffee mornings. The more money the MS Society receives the more chance of some sort of relief or even cure for MS being found”

Noel went on to say “You are a very polite young man with a spark in your eye. I am very impressed with your driving. Thanks to your family for helping with the MS fund raising and I hope to see you doing well in your chosen sport”

Want to help Motorsport for MS? Want to donate?

If Multiple Sclerosis is an illness that is close to your heart and you want to help or get involved, then to find out more information please take a look at the following link

Noels website – Motor Sport for MS

Or to make a donation please visit Noels  Just Giving Page

Or follows Noels story on his Motor Sport for MS Facebook Page

Watch Noel do a full lap of the Brands Hatch Indy circuit on an 8 mph Mobility Scooter to raise funds for the MS Society.

Noels 2016 Calendar

26th & 28th May – Silverstone GP Paddock

04th & 05th June – Brands Hatch Indy Circuit

25th June – Newport Pagnell Carnival Parade

02nd & 03rd July – Thruxton Circuit

23rd & 24th July – Anglesey Circuit

27th & 28th August – Croft Circuit

The Multiple Sclerosis Society and why we try to help in a small way

Sometimes when you are fit and well you take your life for granted. Able bodied people probably have no idea about the challenges faced by those in a wheelchair. Sometimes it is not until you or a loved one are faced with an illness or injury that it suddenly dawns on you just how lucky and fortunate you are to have good health. Our family has seen the impact that this illness can have on an individual’s life and that of the wider family. The loss of independence and the frustrations of not being the person you use to be. The stress and strains that it can put on the people closest to you and the extra energy and work that your carers have to bear. Bills sister has had Multiple Sclerosis for a number of years. She is an amazing, positive lady and an inspiration to us all. We have only helped in a small way. Bill Rawles Classic Cars has been holding Saturday Coffee mornings for a number of years now, raising money for the Alton, Petersfield & District Multiple Sclerosis Society.

Jack Rawles was also very kindly invited along by this branch as a guest speaker to give a little insight into his motorsport world.

The Alton & Petersfield Multiple Sclerosis Society invited Jack Rawles to give a talk about motorsport.

Every day in the UK, 14 people are diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. It’s a lifelong, chronic condition for which there is currently no cure. It is a neurological condition which affects around 100,000 people in the UK. Most people are diagnosed between the ages of 20-40 but it can affect younger and older people too. Roughly three times as many women as men have it. The Multiple Sclerosis Society was set up in 1953 by a small group of people affected by the illness. Today there are over 300 MS Society branches around the UK, all run by volunteers. They fight to improve treatment and care and to help people with MS take control of their lives. One of the aims of the MS Society is to raise money to help fund research to beat MS for good.

Living with MS can often throw up a lot of questions and challenges. People sometimes feel they have nowhere to go for support and information, especially when they’ve just been diagnosed.

As stated before the Multiple Sclerosis Society is run by volunteers. Every branch is different, but invaluable. The importance of the MS Society groups is for the services they can offer:

• emotional and practical support
• financial help
• information
• events
• social events
• MS support groups

 They also raise millions of pounds every year to help people affected by MS.

Above all they bring people affected by MS together in communities around the UK.

Fund raising does help to find a breakthrough

Research and finding a cure does cost money and that is why fund raising can be such a help.

It has been recently reported that an international research team has demonstrated that a new plant-derived drug can block the progression of Multiple Sclerosis. University of Queensland researcher, Dr Christian Gruber said “the breakthrough could be a step forward in preventing and treating MS and other autoimmune diseases. This is a really exciting discovery because it may offer a whole new quality of life for people with this debilitating disease”.

The new drug is expected to be taken by mouth, in contrast to some current MS treatments where patients need to have frequent injections. The new named drug T20K was extracted from a traditional medicinal plant, the Oldenlandia affinis.

There was also a report in The Telegraph Newspaper, this month, claiming hope for Multiple Sclerosis cure using a ‘breakthrough’ stem cell treatment.

Above are just two examples of how funding can help with research, All around the world research is continuously being carried out.