A Newton Aycliffe man is preparing himself for his first half marathon to raise funds for skin disease and skin cancer research.
Dave Cooper, 32 and a mechanic at the GT Hodgkin garage in Winston, will run the Great North Run for the British Skin Foundation on Sunday 15th September. He will be one of 20 runners that make up this year’s largest ever Team BSF, as they each make their way around the second largest half marathon in the world.
Dave is hoping to raise £300 for the British Skin Foundation, the only charity dedicated to finding cures, or at least better treatments, for the eight million people in the UK who suffer from skin disease.
There are two reasons close to Dave’s heart for choosing to run for the British Skin Foundation. He has suffered from the chronic skin disease psoriasis for several years, and in 2006, lost his uncle to malignant melanoma, the least common but most serious form of skin cancer.
“Since my psoriasis diagnosis, I have been amazed by the amount of people who also suffer from skin disease” says Dave “I wanted to do something that would not only help raise funds for research, but also raise awareness of the unique work the BSF do”.
This is not the first time Dave has fundraised for charity. In 2007 he took part in the Durham big ride, and along with his fellow fundraisers, raised a large sum of money for the St Teresa’s hospice in Darlington.
Every penny raised by Dave will go straight towards funding vital research into skin disease and skin cancer. To date, the British Skin Foundation have awarded over £8m to 260 different research projects in the UK.
