An intrepid academic from the University of Aberdeen will saddle up for charity next week as he takes on the dizzy heights of Ben Nevis .
Dr Dominic Watt, Lecturer in the School of Language and Literature, plans to mountain bike down Ben Nevis, at 4,408ft (1,344m), the highest mountain in the British Isles, on Monday (October 18), in order to raise money for the North East Trust for Aphasia (NETA), a charity based in Newcastle .
Dr Watt first heard about NETA during his PhD studies at the University of Newcastle where one of his colleagues at the University's Department of Speech established, and continues to direct, the charity.
NETA is a charity which aims to support people and their families in the North East of England who have aphasia. Aphasia is a condition resulting in mildly to severely impaired communication (speaking, understanding, reading and/or writing), and it tends to affect people later in life, often after a stroke. However, it is a condition that can strike at any age following, for example, head injury or brain disease. Around 58,000 people in the North East of England suffer from aphasia.
NETA is currently fund-raising to set up a Speech Support Centre for people with aphasia. The Centre, to be housed within Newcastle 's existing Aphasia Centre, will be open two days a week and will provide people with aphasia an opportunity to meet people who have similar problems, and to talk to each other.
Dr Watt hopes his forthcoming sponsored mountain bike ride will raise much-needed cash for the charity, as well as raise awareness of aphasia as a condition.
He said: “Although the syndrome is very common – there are about 250,000 aphasia sufferers in the UK – it is not a condition that people generally know much about, and facilities like those at Newcastle rely on constant support and charitable donations to help keep them running.
“Looking at the bigger picture, the services provided by speech and language therapists in the UK are generally under-resourced, not least in the Grampian region, where a shortage of qualified speech and language therapists is felt very acutely.”
Cycling has been a passion of Dr Watt's for many years and he has endured an arduous training schedule to ensure he completes the bike ride on Monday.
He said: “I really enjoy cycling and mountain biking and I feel fit enough to tackle the more demanding routes in my training schedule and on Monday it will be a case of pushing myself that little bit harder to ensure I complete the ride successfully.”
Dr Watt's colleagues and friends at the University of Aberdeen have rallied round with support and he hopes to raise a three-figure sum, which he will donate to NETA.
Anyone wishing to sponsor Dr Watt can do so by contacting him by e-mail at dom.watt@gmail.com or leaving a message at (01224) 272634. More information about the ride can be found on the Internet at http://www.abdn.ac.uk/~enl226/biketheben.htm . For further information on The North East Trust for Aphasia (NETA), contact the University of Newcastle's School of Education, Communication and Language Sciences on (0191) 222 8659.