Celebrating life,
AND LIVING WITH MOTOR NEURON DISEASE
Any income generated from our associated Just Giving page, YouTube channel and music-streaming services goes to the My Name’5 Doddie Foundation.
FIRST VERSE
I’m Richard and this is my brother Mike.
There are exactly three years and four days between my big brother and me; we shared a room together as kids. Mike has a sharp mind, a determined spirit and a wicked sense of humour. Our dad taught him how to mix sand, cement and gravel when he was about six and, a year later, he was helping himself to my dad’s extensive tool selection to build things, break things and fix things.
In the summer of 1971, Mike crafted his first off-road vehicle using two pieces of wood, an old trolley, some wheels removed from a pram my mum no longer needed, and a Rover 2000 car seat that, presumably, my dad no longer needed either. As the willing, if somewhat naïve, guinea-pig driver on our maiden journey, perhaps I should have questioned Mike’s decision not to include brakes, bearing in mind the particularly vicious rose bushes at the bottom of a hill he had designated as the test track. However, I rarely challenged Mike in such matters; he was my big brother, after all.
SECOND VERSE
Mike passed his driving test within weeks of his 17th birthday and, by the age of 18, he was a rising star on the West Sussex banger racing circuit. He put me in charge of composing and painting humorous short poems on the boot of each car, a role I took to with gusto and flair, directly resulting in Mike winning countless races—when he wasn’t crashing out due to his brake issues.
By 1984, having set his sights on loftier racing circles than the banger racing circuit could offer, Mike embarked on a new journey: he put all his savings into an Aston Martin DB4. Essentially a road car, it nevertheless gave him the opportunity to compete at famous circuits such as Silverstone and Oulton Park. Meanwhile, as Mike said he’d rather not have one of my amazing poems on the boot of the Aston, I put all my savings into a JVC GR-C1 camcorder instead.
CHORUS
Music plays a huge part in my life, but it doesn’t define me. Motor racing plays a huge part in Mike’s life, but it doesn’t define him. These things are words in our songs, but they’re not the melodies. So, what defines us? What plays the melodies? I guess it’s our love for each other and our siblings. It was our love and respect for our parents while they were alive. It’s our love for our respective families. It’s the fact that we’re always there for each other: Mike puts up fences for me and I write words for him. It’s our shared belief in equality, justice and the value of a solid work ethic. It’s our commitment, even in the toughest of times, to do the right thing.
Mike was diagnosed with Motor Neuron Disease in 2025. It doesn’t define him, but it now plays a big part in his life and, because he’s my brother, it plays a big part in my life too. The My Name’5 Doddie Foundation is putting its considerable weight behind initiatives to find a cure for MND. My brother is on one of the trials they fund and whilst this won’t take away his MND, it pleases him that he might play a part in a future where the disease is a thing of the past.
Meanwhile, I can put ideas into action to raise money for My Name’5 Doddie. Trowbridge to Timbuktu is one such idea. When I sent Mike a text asking him for a few words of advice, that is, quite literally, what came back:
“Brakes off.”
MIKE, ME, YOU, AND MY NAME’S DODDIE…
Together, we will beat MND
Whilst a few future stories, videos and songs shared by A Wonderful Journey will have Just Giving Pages attached to them, most won’t. But, by subscribing to our YouTube channel, you are already becoming an important part in our fundraising efforts. This two-minute video tells you how. Together, we will beat MND.
