Jim Hamilton pays tribute to amazing Billy Twelvetrees following 24-hour MND fundraising effort

Former Gloucester and England rugby player, Billy Twelvetrees has completed an incredible 350 miles on a bicycle in just 24 hours, raising over £100k for Motor Neurone Disease – a cause close to many people’s hearts.

Billy’s former Gloucester Rugby colleague, Ed Slater was sadly diagnosed with MND back in 2022 following months of tests, with the then-33-year-old releasing a statement, saying:

“I want to say Thank You to everyone for all your messages of support and generosity. It gives me and my family a huge amount of strength in a time of sadness for us. I will meet this challenge head on. Ultimately I can’t win but I will fight with everything. Hope is not lost.”

Since his diagnosis, friends, family and many of those in the rugby community have come together to support the former player. Notably, just last year Milton Keynes RUFC successfully raised almost £10,000 for the #4ed campaign – a campaign created to raise awareness and funds in support of Ed and his family’s battle with the disease.

The most recent effort has been on behalf of multiple charities, with Billy Twelvetrees cycling from Gloucester, through Leicester, Milton Keynes, Twickenham and finally back to Gloucester all within the space of 24 hours, taking very minimal breaks along the way.

They’ve done it.

Gloucester Rugby legend Billy Twelvetrees has cycled 350 miles in 24 hours to raise awareness of MND in support of former team mate Ed Slaterhttps://t.co/dtlsdjNbUj pic.twitter.com/dVn0aGGVP5

— BBC Breakfast (@BBCBreakfast) August 20, 2024

Ed Slater was thrilled with the performance of his old friend, adding: “I love the guy, the pain he has put his body through, he didn’t crack once.”

‘I love the guy, the pain he has put his body through, he didn’t crack once’

Former Gloucester rugby union star Ed Slater, who is living with MND, paid tribute to Billy Twelvetrees after he cycled 350 miles in 24 hours to raise awareness and funds to find a cure for the disease… pic.twitter.com/IbAKGZUjoC

— BBC Breakfast (@BBCBreakfast) August 20, 2024

Jim Hamilton, a friend of Ed’s, also took part in the first part of the challenge, and spoke to RugbyDump with a rather important message:

“It was two years to the day since we did 350 miles as part of a bigger group, which Ed did with us. That was 350 miles from Kingsholm to Leicester, Leicester to Twickenham with a stop-off at Milton Keynes, and back to Gloucester.

“We did it in two days, two years ago. Still, as these things go they always get more difficult, so Billy Twelvetrees wanted to do it in 24 hours this time.

“It didn’t really sound hard when we put it to the group, so we all agreed. But, once we got on the bike we realised the speed at which we had to go was 15-17 mph non-stop for 24 hours, and we kind of realised how difficult it was because that is a fast pace.

“It was phenomenal, the band of brothers back together, the kind of brotherhood, the spirit that everyone put into it. I did the first leg but the night shift I heard was really tough, but as Billy told us before, the physical pain that he was going to go through is nothing compared to what Ed and his family are going through.

“We’ve seen people doing great things, Kevin Sinfield to name one, the My Name’5 Doddie Foundation, and within the two years of the 350 miles that we did, we’ve lost both Doddie and Rob Burrows, so Ed feels like now it’s his duty to fly the flag for the MND community, to raise the profile. We raised £100,000 in the time in which we did the fundraiser, a phenomenal effort.

“Ed said straight after a thank you to Billy and just that he loves him, and having that network of people around Ed who can wrap our arms around him and his family and the MND community is a hugely powerful thing to be able to do.

“We don’t want to be doing it, we wish that we weren’t on the bikes, we wish that we weren’t together doing this because it would mean that Ed doesn’t have MND, but that isn’t the case, the stark reality is that he’s on this fast demise which is playing out, as did Doddie, as did Rob in the media, and it’s harrowing, it’s sad, it’s shocking, it’s heartbreaking.

“Hopefully the more awareness, the more money we can raise, we can find a point where we’re not talking about this and that’s because of Doddy, that’s because of Rob, Kev, Ed and Billy and the group of lads that did it, and the BBC for shining a light and giving us the platform and the publicity to show the wider people of the UK this is a thing and this is happening.

“I’m truly honoured to be a part of that group of people and Ed’s mates and to call myself one of his friends, but I think the plaudits have to go to Billy Twelvetrees and Johnny who  was the professional lead rider, and the team who put it all together, because without them, without the team, none of it was possible.”

Donate to the cause here.

✨A Million Thank Yous✨

Thank you Billy for putting your body on the line for me and for MND. People don’t see what else you and G do for us but now they see what we know. You’re a great man with a massive heart.

Thank you to everyone who turned out to see the team off and… pic.twitter.com/j37D63f7qA

— Ed Slater (@edslater) August 20, 2024

Following the achievement, Ed Slater later said in a post on X (formerly Twitter):

“Thank you Billy for putting your body on the line for me and for MND. People don’t see what else you and G do for us but now they see what we know. You’re a great man with a massive heart.

“Thank you to everyone who turned out to see the team off and welcome them Holm.

“Thank you to the team of friends that helped keep Billy going and safe on the road.

“Thank you to everyone who saw our story, sent messages, cheered from the road. Who came to Leicester and Twickenham.

“Last but not least, THANK YOU for donating to our cause. We live in difficult times and it’s hard to ask for money but YOU have given so generously and we are extremely grateful you helped us smash our target and it continues to go beyond.”

Donate to the cause here.