The foundation set up by Scottish rugby legend Doddie Weir is investing more than £500,000 in motor neuron disease clinical trials.

My Name’5 Doddie Foundation (MNDF) said the investment spread across multiple UK centres would speed up the search for effective treatments for the condition.

The charity was founded by Weir following his diagnosis with motor neuron disease (MND) in 2016. He died on 26 November 2022.

On what would have been his 54th birthday, his foundation is encouraging people to wear a piece of tartan to raise awareness for the disease.

The foundation has already invested more than £3m to recruit staff to deliver MND clinical trials.

It has also committed more than £11m to MND research, with a further £2m invested in supporting people living with MND.

Jessica Lee, director of research at MNDF, said: “Doddie was passionate about the need for more MND clinical trials, to give newly diagnosed people hope and purpose, and to accelerate the search for effective treatments.

"This commitment of an additional £500,000 to support individual trial centres, will enable them to buy-out the time of specialised staff and make a real difference in our ongoing mission”