MULTIPLE sclerosis has changed my life in many ways.

Both my mum and my friend Beccy live with this relentless, painful, disabling condition. Mum was diagnosed in 2007 after years of unexplained symptoms. Then in 2012 Beccy, who was only 31 at the time, discovered she had it too.

More than 100,000 people live with MS in the UK and around 11,830 have it in the North West. People have different types and right now there are treatments that work for Beccy, but none for my mum.

Amazingly, for the first time, scientists believe stopping MS is possible. They can see a future where nobody needs to worry about MS getting worse; that means not living in fear you’ll be reliant on a wheelchair, or one day lose your independence.

This has given me incredible hope and it’s why I’m encouraging everyone in the North West to support the MS Society’s Stop MS Appeal. They need to raise £100 million over ten years to find treatments for everyone with MS, and need all the support they can get. With your readers’ help, we can stop MS.

Readers can find out more at mssociety.org.uk/stop

Scott Mills

MS Society Ambassador and BBC Radio 1 broadcaster