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The time for change is now. Step up.

It’s simple. £3 million towards better treatments. Three years to achieve it. Not tomorrow. Not next year. It starts now.

Why we need your help.

Kidney disease treatments are tough.

Imagine needing to go to hospital three times a week for four-hour dialysis sessions. Your life depends on it. Or being told your transplant has failed a week after the operation. A transplant you’ve waited years for. We don’t want patients to still be going through this in 20 years’ time. The change needs to start now.

850 million people worldwide have kidney disease.

In the UK, 20 people develop kidney failure every day and need dialysis or a transplant to stay alive.

It’s not a disease that affects a small number of people. Kidney disease has become a public health emergency in the UK and is costing the UK economy £7 billion a year, costs which could rise to £13.9 billion in just ten years.

Kidney disease is a really big deal. But it’s not taken seriously enough. Not enough research is happening. And it’s not happening fast enough. This is where you come in. Your donation today will make a huge difference to patients’ lives.

Lee undertaking a dialysis session.

“As soon as they put the neck line in I knew I wasn’t going back to work. My boss said there was no way I could get insurance to be on a roof.”

Lee Farrington, 46

Kudz Munongi

Kudz Munongi, 39

Kudz was a success story. After having dialysis for five years, he got a successful transplant. It lasted for 13 years and he followed his dream to become a university lecturer. But the transplant wasn’t for life. It failed. He’s now back at square one on dialysis. Help us make transplants last forever. Kudz wants his life back.

Kudz Munongi
Lee undertaking a dialysis session.

Lee Farrington, 46

Lee Farrington was 21 when he was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. He managed his condition for 25 years and got on with life as best he could. But in the space of a year, since he started dialysis, Lee’s life has become totally unrecognisable. He hasn’t been able to work, which has left him struggling financially and emotionally too. Lee’s younger sister Vicky also had diabetes and was on dialysis for three and a half years before she died seven years ago at the age of 35. We urgently need to transform dialysis treatments for people like Lee.

Lee undertaking a dialysis session.
Nikki Fretwell

Nikki Fretwell, 51

Nikki Fretwell was 17 years old when she was diagnosed with focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS). Now, the 51 year old is thought to be one of the UK’s longest surviving dialysis patients, after more than three decades receiving the treatment. “The whole transplant experience could not have gone more wrong,” she says. “The kidney never worked properly, and I was in hospital for four months until it was removed. It was horrific. I like having control, which is why I dialyse at home.” We urgently need to transform treatments for people like Nikki.

Nikki Fretwell
Paul Cookson

Paul Cookson, 43

Paul is relying on a research lifeline. After four transplant rejections and 20 years on dialysis, he’s been told the chance of another transplant is slim. Unless treatments improve. Research could find a way to perform successful transplants on people like Paul. This is the kind of project we need to fund. And we need your help. Paul shouldn’t have to go through this.

Paul Cookson
Stuart-Allen

Stuart Allen, 37

Stuart lost his dad to kidney disease. He was always positive. He kept a smile through it all – kidney failure, blindness, diabetes. Stuart is honouring his inspiring dad by running the London Marathon this year. He wants the money raised to go towards improving treatments for kidney patients like his dad. You don’t have to run a marathon to help though. Help us transform treatments with a donation.

Stuart-Allen
Charlie sitting on a bench with his dog.

Charlie

Since starting dialysis, Charlie has struggled with many aspects of the treatment and his mental health has suffered. A professional counsellor is helping make a difference and he continues to show fighting spirit. Kidney disease has taken away Charlie’s ability to be a typical teenager, meet with friends and enjoy his sports. We urgently need to transform treatments for children like Charlie and their families.

Charlie sitting on a bench with his dog.

What we can do together.

  • We want transplants to last longer. Patients don’t need the worry of wondering if or when theirs will fail. They should be for life.
  • We want to reduce the burden of treatment and improve patients’ quality of life. Treatments are incredibly disruptive and can make people feel very unwell. But this can be improved through research into better medical solutions.
  • We want everyone to have equal access to treatments and care. 32% of people on the waiting list for a kidney transplant are from minority ethnic backgrounds. This isn’t good enough.

How your donation can transform treatments

Your donations will go to crucial research into new and better treatments for kidney disease.

As part of the ADMIRE study ‘Assessing Donor kidneys and Monitoring Transplant REcipients’, Dr Maria Kaisar and her team at the University of Oxford will analyse blood samples from donors to develop a mathematical model to predict how well a donor kidney will function after transplant.

The Oxford team, in collaboration with researchers at the University of Nottingham and University College London, will also develop MRI scanning methods to assess donor organs before and after transplant. This study could help doctors accurately assess kidneys, transplant only the best and identify suitable kidneys from donors previously deemed too high risk.

Donate today

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