​ Limavady boy Callum McCorriston's ‘Duvet Day’ has raised hundreds of pounds for the charity, Duchenne UK

Callum McCorriston has raised over £500 for Duchenne UK, a charity that works to help people with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD).

Callum has DMD and wanted to raise the funds for the charity’s research into new DMD treatments, a care programme for people with DMD, and its work to develop new technologies to help people with DMD.Callum recommends that other people have a Duvet Day as you can take a day off and do all the things you like doing.

He really enjoyed his Duvet Day and played games, watched films, and ate his favourite food. He said that enjoying yourself and raising money at the same time feels fantastic.He said: "I am so happy that I raised a lot of money for Duchenne UK. This will help boys like me. Thanks to everyone who sponsored me, you should all have a Duvet Day, it's so much fun!"Callum was diagnosed with DMD when he was two years old. DMD is a genetic disease that causes muscle weakness and wasting. It eventually affects all the muscles in the body, including the heart and lungs.

It is caused by a fault, known as a mutation, on the dystrophin gene. Dystrophin is a protein that protects muscles; without it, muscles are easily damaged, and their strength and function is weakened.

There is currently no cure for Duchenne, but there are treatments and therapies that can slow down DMD progression and improve quality of life.

It almost always affects boys and there are 2,500 people in the UK living with DMD.Since then, his parents Paul and Laura have set up ‘Team Callum’ to raise funds to help people with DMD.

With a very strong network of family, friends and the local community, they have raised tens of thousands of pounds through skydives, abseils and holding events such as fun days and raffles.

Thanking Callum for having a Duvet Day and raising money for Duchenne UK, its fundraising manager, Jane Barnes, said: “We are so grateful to Callum for holding a Duvet Day to support our work and for raising as much money as he did.

"He showed what a fun day it is and how you can raise valuable funds at the same time. A huge thank you to Callum and everyone at Team Callum.”

Duchenne UK is a charity that was set up in 2012 by Emily Reuben and Alex Johnson following both of their sons being diagnosed with DMD. They set up Duchenne UK to tackle some of the big challenges in drug development in their search to accelerate the development of treatments. In 11 years, Duchenne UK has raised more than £20 million and used this money to, among other things, found clinical trials of medicines that are now showing promise for DMD

A Duvet Day is a fundraising event that requires nothing more than spending time under a duvet, which means anyone can join in. There are lots of ways and places to get involved/You can host a Duvet Day from home, school, university, and work.You can find out more about it and take part here: duchenneuk.org/duvet-days/