Why this West Yorkshire charity is having a ball … and everyone’s invited

Calderdale-based My Mito Mission provides awareness, support and promotes research into mitochondrial disease while fundraising for all three.

Mitochondrial disease is a complex, life-limiting condition with no known treatment or cure although research is ongoing, thanks to My Mito Mission and others.

The Energy Ball is My Mito Mission’s main fundraiser of the year and will be held at the Cedar Court hotel on Rooley Lane in Bradford on Saturday, May 10.

It will feature Rock Choir West Yorkshire which draws singers from Huddersfield, Bradford, Halifax and Dewsbury who love to sing high energy, well-known songs.

Other entertainment will also include LED acts, a three-course meal and fundraising with the emphasis on fun, including prize draws, a raffle, live auction and games.

My Mito Mission founder Christine Beal said: “The feedback from our previous balls has been amazing and anyone who attends this year is promised a brilliant night out.”

The event has been sponsored by the KTH Engineering Group in Elland where My Mito Mission is based and early bird tickets are £55 or £450 for a table of 10.

The price goes up to £65 and £550 from April 1.

Christine, of Rastrick, co-founded My Mito Mission after losing her daughter, Emma, to mitochondrial disease aged just 28.

It’s a complex and, so far, incurable illness. Mitochondrial are like little battery packs inside every cell in the body converting food into energy and if they don’t work properly they can have a major impact on people’s main organs, health and basic wellbeing.

Around one in 5,000 people suffer from the condition which makes it one of the most common genetic ones. The number of sufferers is similar to cystic fibrosis and motor neurone disease yet mitochondrial disease is barely known which is why My Mito Mission is, literally, on a mission to change that.

Mitochondrial dysfunction is now known to be a factor in some of the most common and well-known medical conditions and diseases such as autism, cancer, obesity, hepatitis, dementia, diabetes, epilepsy, fibromyalgia, heart disease, motor neurone disease, MS, Parkinson’s, sepsis and stroke.

This is why research into the causes of mitochondrial disease could have a positive impact on research into so many other illnesses, potentially helping millions of people in the future.

To book tickets for the ball go to The Energy Charity Ball | My Mito Mission