Adie Doe, of Adie’s barber shop in Bury St Edmunds, is running next month’s TCS London Marathon for Kidney Care UK

A well-known barber who donated a kidney for his ‘hero’ sister said his customers had ‘stepped up to the mark’ to support his London marathon fund-raising efforts.

Six years ago, Adie Doe, who runs Adie's barber shop, in Bury St Edmunds, donated a kidney for his sister Lynn Charles through a pairing scheme; it saw Adie donate his kidney to an unknown recipient, while Lynn received a kidney from someone who was better matched to her.

Back then, in 2019, Adie wasn’t a runner, but he said when a couple of friends talked him into doing a half marathon in 2020 at Cambridge it seemed a great way to raise money for charity, and also awareness that you can have a perfectly normal lifestyle after donation.

Roll forward five years and – with several half marathons under his belt – he is in training for his first marathon, the TCS London Marathon next month.

On Saturday, the father of two, of Bury, hosted a race night at the Moreton Hall Community Centre, in Bury, along with his friend Allan Baldwin – who is also running next month’s marathon - to raise money for their charities.

Adie has a charity place for Kidney Care UK, while Allan is using his ballot place to raise money for Breakthrough T1D, a type 1 diabetes charity.

Before the race night, Adie had already raised £2,200; the figure is now at more than £3,700 for Kidney Care UK.

“I was very lucky that my customers are super, super good. They step up to the mark, they always do,” said Adie, whose barber shop is in St Andrew’s Street North.

Last year he completed five half marathons, raising money for three charities including Kidney Care UK, to mark the fifth anniversary of his kidney donation operation.

It was when he was about to do his final half marathon, in Oxford, in October that he got an unexpected call from Kidney Care UK offering him a charity place at the London Marathon 2025.

Adie, who had been thinking about doing a marathon for a couple of years, said his ‘mouth worked before my brain kicked into gear’.

Adie said: “I look at it and think ‘I’m 54, what am I doing my first marathon for?’

“It’s nice, it’s exciting. I’m still quite nervous about it. It’s my first marathon and my last marathon.”

He added: “I will keep going until I drop.”

He said his sister Lynn, who he describes as his ‘hero’, was planning to come along to the London marathon to support him – and it would be emotional to see her.

“It will be the emotional side I’m more concerned about,” he said. “I know when I see her I will be a blubbering mess by that point.”

While he said his marathon training was ‘very hard’, he was positive about it.

This Sunday, he is taking part in the Cambridge half marathon; the sixth one he has done. He added: “That started out as my main event and it seems very weird I’m using that as a training event.”

On his London Marathon page, he said: “So here we go and this is for me, my sister (who’s my hero) and for everyone who has been affected by kidney disease! Every pound will make a massive difference so please if you could spare a pound for a great charity.”

Currently, over 3.5 million people are diagnosed with kidney disease with 68,000 of these in kidney failure and 30,000 receiving dialysis treatment.

To donate, visit: https://2025tcslondonmarathon.enthuse.com/pf/adrian-doe

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